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Ezekiel 22
1 Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,2 And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? then cause her to know all her disgusting behaviors.3 And you shall say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: A city that sheds blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that makes idols against herself to defile her!4 You have become guilty in your blood that you have shed, and are defiled in your idols which you have made; and you have caused your days to draw near, and have come even to your years: therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all the countries.5 Those that are near, and those that are far from you, shall mock you, you infamous one [and] full of tumult.6 Look, the princes of Israel, every one according to his power, have been in you to shed blood.7 In you they have set light by father and mother; in the midst of you they have dealt by oppression with the sojourner; in you they have wronged the fatherless and the widow.8 You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my Sabbaths.9 Slanderous men have been in you to shed blood; and in you they have eaten on the mountains: in the midst of you they have committed lewdness.10 In you they have uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in you they have humbled her that was unclean in her impurity.11 And one has done a disgusting thing with his neighbor's wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in you has humbled his sister, his father's daughter.12 In you they have taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me, says the Lord Yahweh.13 Look, therefore, I have smitten my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been in the midst of you.14 Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and will do it.15 And I will scatter you among the nations, and disperse you through the countries; and I will consume your filthiness out of you.16 And I will be profaned by you, in the sight of the nations; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
17 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,18 Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me: all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.19 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have all become dross, therefore, look, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.20 As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire on it, to melt it; so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you there, and melt you.21 Yes, I will gather you, and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst thereof.22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst thereof; and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have poured out my wrath on you.
23 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,24 Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained on in the day of indignation.25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in the midst thereof.26 Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, [and] to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.28 And her prophets have daubed for them with untempered [mortar], seeing false visions, and telling them lying fortunes, saying, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, when Yahweh has not spoken.29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yes, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully.30 And I sought for a man among them, that should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.31 Therefore I have poured out my indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way I have brought on their heads, says the Lord Yahweh.
Updated Bible Version
Scripture quotations are from the UPDV® Updated Bible Version 1.9, Copyright © 2003-4 by Updated Publishers. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.