Ezekiel 22

The city of bloodshed

1The word of the LORD came to me: 2“And you, son of man, will you judge? Will you judge the city of bloodshed? Confront her with all her abominations. 3Say, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: City that sheds blood within herself, bringing her time near, and makes idols to defile herself! 4You have become guilty through the blood you shed and unclean through the idols you made. You have brought your days near and reached your appointed years. So I have made you an object of scorn to the nations and ridicule to every land. 5Those near and far will mock you, you of defiled name, full of turmoil. 6“‘Look at Israel’s princes among you, each using his power to shed blood. 7Among you father and mother are treated with contempt. Within you the resident foreigner is extorted; among you the orphan and widow are oppressed. 8You despise my holy things and profane my Sabbaths. 9Among you are slanderers who cause bloodshed. Among you people eat on the mountains and practice lewdness. 10Among you men uncover their fathers’ nakedness and violate women during their menstrual uncleanness. 11One commits an abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another violates his sister, his father’s daughter, among you. 12Among you bribes are taken to shed blood. You take interest and profit, extort your neighbors for gain, and forget me, declares the Lord GOD. 13“‘I strike my hands together at the dishonest gain you have made and the bloodshed within you. 14Will your heart endure? Will your hands remain strong in the days when I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it. 15I will disperse you among the nations, scatter you through other lands, and put an end to your uncleanness. 16You will be profaned through your own doing in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

Dross in the furnace

17The word of the LORD came to me: 18“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead in a furnace; they have become the dross of silver. 19Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have all become dross, I am gathering you into Jerusalem. 20As silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin are gathered into a furnace and fire is blown upon them to melt them, so I will gather you in my anger and fury. I will put you in and melt you. 21I will gather you and blow upon you with the fire of my fury, and you will be melted within the city. 22As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted within it. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out my fury upon you.”

No one in the breach

23The word of the LORD came to me: 24“Son of man, tell her, ‘You are a land not cleansed, not rained upon on the day of indignation.’ 25The conspiracy of her prophets within her is like a roaring lion tearing prey. They devour lives, seize wealth and precious things, and multiply widows within her. 26Her priests violate my instruction and profane my holy things. They make no distinction between holy and common, and teach no distinction between unclean and clean. They shut their eyes to my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 27Her officials within her are like wolves tearing prey, shedding blood and destroying lives for dishonest gain. 28Her prophets coat things with whitewash for them, seeing empty visions and giving them lying divinations. They say, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken. 29The people of the land practice extortion and robbery. They oppress the poor and needy and extort the resident foreigner, denying justice. 30I looked among them for someone to build up the wall and stand in the breach before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it. But I found no one. 31So I poured out my indignation on them and consumed them with the fire of my fury. I brought their ways down on their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”