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The Lord Judges Jerusalem for Its Sins

22 A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said,

“Son of man, are you going to judge Jerusalem? Will you judge this city that has so many murderers in it? Then tell its people they have done many evil things. I hate those things. Tell them, ‘The Lord and King says, “Your city brings death on itself. You spill blood inside its walls. You make yourselves ‘unclean’ by making statues of gods. You are guilty of spilling blood. Your statues have made you ‘unclean.’ You have brought your days to a close. The end of your years has come. So the nations will make fun of you. All the countries will laugh at you. Those who are near you will tell jokes about you. So will those who are far away. Trouble fills the streets of your sinful city.

“ ‘ “The princes of Israel are in your city. All of them use their power to spill blood. They have made fun of fathers and mothers alike. They have crushed outsiders. They have treated badly the children whose fathers have died. They have done the same thing to widows. You have looked down on the holy things that were set apart to me. You have misused my Sabbath days. You have spread lies about others so you can spill someone’s blood. You eat at the mountain temples. You commit impure acts. 10 You bring shame on your fathers by having sex with their wives. You have sex with women during their monthly period. That is when they are ‘unclean.’ 11 One of you has sex with another man’s wife. I hate that sin. Another brings shame on his daughter-in-law by having sex with her. Still another has sex with his sister, even though she is his own father’s daughter. 12 You accept money from people who want special favors. You do this to spill someone’s blood. You charge interest to poor people when you lend them money. You make money from them. You get rich by cheating your neighbors. And you have forgotten me,” announces the Lord and King.

13 “ ‘ “I will clap my hands because I am so angry. You got rich by cheating others. You spilled blood inside the walls of your city. 14 Will you be brave on the day I deal with you? Will you be strong at that time? I have spoken. I will do this. I am the Lord. 15 I will scatter you among the nations. I will send you to other countries. I will put an end to your ‘uncleanness.’ 16 You will be ‘unclean’ in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”

17 A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, 18 “Son of man, the people of Israel have become like scum to me. All of them are like the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are only the scum that is removed from silver.” 19 So the Lord and King says, “People of Israel, all of you have become like scum. So I will gather you together in Jerusalem. 20 People put silver, copper, iron, lead and tin into a furnace. They melt it with a blazing fire. In the same way, I will gather you. I will pour out my burning anger on you. I will put you inside the city and melt you. 21 I will gather you together. My burning anger will blaze out at you. And you will be melted inside Jerusalem. 22 Silver is melted in a furnace. And you will be melted inside the city. Then you will know that I have poured out my burning anger on you. I am the Lord.”

23 Another message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, 24 “Son of man, speak to the land. Tell it, ‘You have not been washed clean with rain. That’s because I am angry with you.’ 25 Ezekiel, the princes of the land are like a roaring lion that tears its food apart. They eat people up. They take treasures and other valuable things. They cause many women in the land to become widows. 26 Its priests break my law. They treat things set apart to me as if they were not holy. They treat holy and common things as if they were the same. They teach that there is no difference between things that are ‘clean’ and things that are not. They refuse to keep my Sabbath days. So they treat me as if I were not holy. 27 The officials in the land are like wolves that tear their food apart. They spill blood and kill people to get rich. 28 The prophets cover up these acts for them. The visions of these prophets are false. They use magic to try to find out what is going to happen. But their magic tricks are lies. They say, ‘The Lord and King says.’ But I have not spoken to them. 29 The people of the land get rich by cheating others. They steal. They crush those who are poor and in need. They treat outsiders badly. They refuse to be fair to them.

30 “I looked for someone among them who would stand up for Jerusalem. I tried to find someone who would pray to me for the land. Then I would not have to destroy it. But I could not find anyone who would pray for it. 31 So I will pour out my anger on its people. I will destroy them because of my great anger against them. And anything that happens to them will be their own fault,” announces the Lord and King.

Judgment on Jerusalem’s Sins

22 The word of the Lord came to me:

“Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed?(A) Then confront her with all her detestable practices(B) and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood(C) in her midst and defiles herself by making idols, you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed(D) and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come.(E) Therefore I will make you an object of scorn(F) to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries.(G) Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, you infamous city, full of turmoil.(H)

“‘See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood.(I) In you they have treated father and mother with contempt;(J) in you they have oppressed the foreigner(K) and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.(L) You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths.(M) In you are slanderers(N) who are bent on shedding blood;(O) in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines(P) and commit lewd acts.(Q) 10 In you are those who dishonor their father’s bed;(R) in you are those who violate women during their period,(S) when they are ceremonially unclean.(T) 11 In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor’s wife,(U) another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law,(V) and another violates his sister,(W) his own father’s daughter.(X) 12 In you are people who accept bribes(Y) to shed blood; you take interest(Z) and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbors.(AA) And you have forgotten(AB) me, declares the Sovereign Lord.(AC)

13 “‘I will surely strike my hands(AD) together at the unjust gain(AE) you have made and at the blood(AF) you have shed in your midst.(AG) 14 Will your courage endure(AH) or your hands(AI) be strong in the day I deal with you? I the Lord have spoken,(AJ) and I will do it.(AK) 15 I will disperse you among the nations and scatter(AL) you through the countries; and I will put an end to(AM) your uncleanness.(AN) 16 When you have been defiled[a] in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the Lord.’”

17 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, the people of Israel have become dross(AO) to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace.(AP) They are but the dross of silver.(AQ) 19 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Because you have all become dross,(AR) I will gather you into Jerusalem. 20 As silver, copper, iron, lead and tin are gathered into a furnace to be melted with a fiery blast, so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you.(AS) 21 I will gather you and I will blow(AT) on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her.(AU) 22 As silver is melted(AV) in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath(AW) on you.’”(AX)

23 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 24 “Son of man, say to the land, ‘You are a land that has not been cleansed or rained on in the day of wrath.’(AY) 25 There is a conspiracy(AZ) of her princes[b] within her like a roaring lion(BA) tearing its prey; they devour people,(BB) take treasures and precious things and make many widows(BC) within her. 26 Her priests do violence to my law(BD) and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common;(BE) they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean;(BF) and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned(BG) among them.(BH) 27 Her officials(BI) within her are like wolves(BJ) tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people(BK) to make unjust gain.(BL) 28 Her prophets whitewash(BM) these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations.(BN) They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has not spoken.(BO) 29 The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery;(BP) they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner,(BQ) denying them justice.(BR)

30 “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall(BS) and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.(BT) 31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger,(BU) bringing down(BV) on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.(BW)

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 22:16 Or When I have allotted you your inheritance
  2. Ezekiel 22:25 Septuagint; Hebrew prophets