Ezekiel 22

The Sins of Israel

1Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2“And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then inform her of all her abominations. 3And you shall say, ‘This is what the Lord 1God says: “A city 2shedding blood in her midst, so that her time is coming; and a city that makes idols, contrary to her own good, for defilement! 4You have become 3guilty by 4the blood which you have shed, and you have become defiled by your idols which you have made. So you have brought your days closer and have come to your years; therefore I have made you a 5disgrace to the nations, and an object of mocking to all the lands. 5Those who are near and those who are far from you will make fun of you, you of ill repute, full of 6turmoil.

6“Behold, the 7rulers of Israel, each according to his 8power, have been among you for the purpose of shedding blood. 7They have 9treated father and mother with contempt among you. They have oppressed the 10stranger in your midst; they have oppressed the 11orphan and the widow among you. 8You have 12despised My holy things and 13profaned My Sabbaths. 9Slanderous men have been among you for the purpose of shedding blood, and among you they have eaten at the mountain shrines. In your midst they have 14committed outrageous sin. 10Among you 15they have 16uncovered their fathers’ nakedness; among you they have abused her who was 17unclean in her menstruation. 11And one has committed abomination with his 18neighbor’s wife, another has outrageously defiled his 19daughter-in-law, and another among you has sexually 20abused his sister, his father’s daughter. 12Among you they have 21taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken 2223interest, you have injured your neighbors by 24oppression, and you have 25forgotten Me,” declares the Lord God.

13“Behold, then, I strike with My hand your 26profit which you have made and 27the bloodshed which is among you. 14Can 28your heart endure, or can your hands be strong for the days that I will deal with you? 29I, the Lord, have spoken and will act. 15And I will 30scatter you among the nations and disperse you among the lands, and I will 31eliminate your uncleanness from you. 16Then you will defile yourself in the sight of the nations, and you will 32know that I am the Lord.”’”

17And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 18“Son of man, the house of Israel has become 3334waste metal to Me; all of them are 35bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the 36smelting furnace; they are the 37waste metal of silver. 19Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because all of you have become 38waste metal, therefore, behold, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20As they gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the 39smelting furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I will place you there and melt you. 21And I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it. 22As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, the Lord, have 40poured out My wrath on you.’”

23And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 24“Son of man, say to her, ‘You are a land that is 41not clean or rained on in the day of indignation.’ 25There is a 42conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have 43devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many 44widows in the midst of her. 26Her 45priests have done violence to My Law and have 46profaned My holy things; they have made no 47distinction between the holy and the 48common, and they have not taught the difference between the 49unclean and the clean; and they have closed their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am defiled among them. 27Her leaders within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and 50destroying lives in order to make 51dishonest profit. 28And her prophets have coated with whitewash for them, seeing 52false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ when the Lord has not spoken. 29The people of the land have practiced 53extortion and committed robbery, and they have oppressed the poor and needy, and have 54oppressed the stranger without justice. 30I 55searched for a man among them who would 56build up a wall and 57stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found 58no one. 31So I have poured out My 59indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; I have brought 60their way upon their heads,” declares the Lord God.