Ezekiel 22
1 And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying, 2 And thou, son of man, wilt
thou judge the bloody city? yea, declare thou to her all her iniquities.
3 And thou shalt say, Thus saith the
Lord God: O city that sheds blood in the midst of her, so that her time should
come, and that forms devices against herself, to defile herself;
4 in their blood which thou hast shed,
thou hast transgressed; and in thy devices which thou hast formed, thou hast
polluted thyself; and thou hast brought nigh thy days, and hast brought on the
time of thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach to the Gentiles, and
a mockery to all the countries, 5 to
those near thee, and to those far distant from thee; and they shall mock thee,
thou that art notoriously unclean, and abundant in
iniquities.
6 Behold, the princes of the house of
Israel have conspired in thee each one with his kindred, that they might shed
blood. 7 In thee they have reviled
father and mother; and in thee they have behaved unjustly toward the stranger:
they have oppressed the orphan and widow.
8 And they have set at nought my holy
things, and in thee they have profaned my sabbaths.
9 There are robbers in thee, to shed blood in thee;
and in thee they have eaten upon the mountains: they have wrought ungodliness
in the midst of thee. 10 In thee they
have uncovered the father's shame; and in thee they have humbled her that was
set apart for uncleanness. 11 They
have dealt unlawfully each one with his neighbour's wife; and each one in
ungodliness has defiled his daughter-in-law: and in thee they have humbled
each one his sister, the daughter of his father.
12 In thee they have received gifts
to shed blood; they have received in thee interest and usurious increase; and
by oppression thou hast brought thy wickedness to the full, and hast forgotten
me, saith the Lord.
13 And if I shall smite my hand at
thine iniquities which thou hast accomplished, which
thou hast wrought, and at thy blood that has been shed in the midst of thee,
14 shall thy heart endure? shall
thine hands be strong in the days which I bring upon thee? I the Lord have
spoken, and will do it.
15 And I will scatter thee among the
nations, and disperse thee in the countries, and thy uncleanness shall be
removed out of thee. 16 And I will
give heritages in thee in the sight of the nations, and ye shall know that I
am the Lord.
17 And the word of the Lord came to
me, saying, 18 Son of man, behold,
the house of Israel are all become to me
as it were mixed with brass, and iron, and tin, and
lead; they are mixed up in the midst of silver.
19 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord
God; Because ye have become one mixture, therefore I will gather you into the
midst of Jerusalem. 20 As silver, and
brass, and iron, and tin, and lead, are gathered into the midst of the
furnace, to blow fire into it, that they may be melted: so will I take
you in my wrath, and I will gather and melt you.
21 And I will blow upon you in the
fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.
22 As silver is melted in the midst
of a furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know
that I the Lord have poured out my wrath upon you.
23 And the word of the Lord came to
me, saying, 24 Son of man, say to
her, Thou art the land that is not rained upon, neither has rain come upon
thee in the day of wrath: 25 whose
princes in the midst of her are as roaring lions seizing prey, devouring souls
by oppression, and taking bribes; and thy widows are multiplied in the midst
of thee. 26 Her priests also have set
at nought my law, and profaned my holy things: they have not distinguished
between the holy and profane, nor have they distinguished between the unclean
and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I was profaned in
the midst of them. 27 Her princes in
the midst of her are as wolves ravening to shed blood, that they may get
dishonest gain. 28 And her prophets
that daub them shall fall, that see vanities, that prophesy falsehoods,
saying, Thus saith the Lord, when the Lord has not spoken.
29 That sorely oppress the people of
the land with injustice, and commit robbery; oppressing the poor and needy,
and not dealing justly with the stranger.
30 And I sought from among them a man
behaving uprightly, and standing before me perfectly in the time of wrath, so
that I should not utterly destroy her: but I found
him not.
31 So I have poured out my wrath upon
her in the fury of mine anger, to accomplish it. I
have recompensed their ways on their own heads, saith the Lord God.