Ezekiel 22
The Lord God condemns the city of Jerusalem for its numerous abominations, including shedding blood, idolatry, and defiling the Sabbath. The leaders of Israel are accused of using their power to shed blood and oppress the weak, while the prophets and priests are guilty of despising God's law and profaning the sanctuaries. The people of the land are also condemned for their oppression, violence, and greed. God declares that He will disperse the people among the nations, scatter them among the lands, and cause their uncleanness to fade away, and that He will pour out His indignation upon them in the fire of His wrath.
1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying2"And you, son of man, should you not judge, should you not judge the city of blood3And you shall reveal to her all her abominations. And you shall say: Thus says the Lord God: This is the city which sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and which has made idols against herself, so that she may be defiled4You have offended by your blood, which you shed from yourself. And you have been defiled by your idols which you yourself made. And you have caused your days to approach, and you have brought on the time of your years. Because of this, I have made you a disgrace to the Gentiles, and a derision to all the lands5Those that are near and those that are far from you will triumph over you. You are filthy, infamous, great in destruction6Behold, the leaders of Israel have each used his arm to shed blood within you7They have abused father and mother within you. The new arrival has been oppressed in your midst. They have grieved the orphan and the widow among you8You have spurned my sanctuaries, and you have defiled my Sabbaths9Maligning men were within you, in order to shed blood, and they have eaten upon the mountains within you. They have worked wickedness in your midst10They have uncovered the nakedness of their father within you. They have debased the uncleanness of the menstruous woman within you11And each one has committed abomination with the wife of his neighbor. And the father-in-law has heinously defiled his daughter-in-law. The brother has oppressed his sister, the daughter of his father, within you12They have accepted bribes among you to shed blood. You have received usury and superabundance, and in avarice you have oppressed your neighbors. And you have forgotten me, says the Lord God13Behold, I have clapped my hands over your avarice, which you have worked, and over the blood that has been shed in your midst14How can your heart endure, or your hands prevail, in the days that I will bring upon you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will act15And I will disperse you among the nations, and I will scatter you among the lands, and I will cause your uncleanness to fade away from you16And I will possess you in the sight of the Gentiles. And you shall know that I am the Lord.17And the word of the Lord came to me, saying18"Son of man, the house of Israel has become like dross to me. All these are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead in the midst of the furnace; they have become like the dross of silver19Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Since you have all turned into dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you together in the midst of Jerusalem20just as they gather silver, and brass, and tin, and iron, and lead in the midst of the furnace, so that I may kindle in it a fire to melt it. So will I gather you together in my fury and in my wrath, and I will be quieted, and I will melt you down21And I will gather you together, and I will burn you in the fire of my fury, and you will be melted in its midst22Just as silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so will you be in its midst. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I will have poured out my indignation upon you.23And the word of the Lord came to me, saying24"Son of man, say to her: You are a land unclean and not rained upon, in the day of fury25There is a conspiracy of prophets in her midst. Like a lion, roaring and seizing the prey, they have devoured souls. They have taken riches and a price. They have multiplied widows in her midst26Her priests have despised my law, and they have defiled my sanctuaries. They have held no distinction between holy and profane. And they have not understood the difference between defiled and clean. And they have averted their eyes from my Sabbaths. And I was profaned in their midst27Her leaders in her midst are like wolves seizing the prey: to shed blood, and to perish souls, and to continually pursue profit with avarice28And her prophets have covered them without tempering the mortar, seeing emptiness, and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken29The people of the land have oppressed with slander and have seized with violence. They have afflicted the needy and the poor, and they have oppressed the new arrival by accusations without judgment30And I sought among them for a man who might set up a hedge, and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I might not destroy it; and I found no one31And so I poured out my indignation upon them; in the fire of my wrath I consumed them. I have rendered their own way upon their head, says the Lord God.
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