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Ezekiel 22
The Voice
Ezekiel 22
The Voice
Babylon’s reign of terror is short-lived. God orders the Israelites to put their swords away, go home, and wait. When the time is right, they will get what they deserve.
22 The word of the Eternal came to me.
Eternal One: 2 Son of man, will you judge this bloody city? Will you? You must! Confront her about her shocking actions, 3 and speak to her.
Then the Eternal Lord declared this for me to say to her:
Eternal One: You are a city of bloodshed, and your ways will come back to haunt you. You are a city of idols, making them even though they defile you. 4 The blood you shed covers you with the heaviness of guilt. The idols you have made degraded your spirit. You have reached the end of your life, so I have made you an object of scorn to all the nations! 5 Those near and far will mock you—city of infamy and turmoil!
6 Look, the princes of Israel who reside in your walls use their political power to murder. 7 Infamous city of turmoil, your people mistreat their elders, disrespect their parents, take advantage of foreigners passing through, and treat orphans and widows with contempt. 8 In you My holy things are desecrated and My Sabbaths are profaned. 9 Your citizens lie and give false testimonies at capital trials, shedding innocent blood. Your people feast at lofty shrines devoted to false gods and commit lewd sexual acts. 10 In you men expose their fathers’ nakedness by having intercourse with their wives and engage in sexual relations with women who are impure because of their menstrual cycles. 11 In you one man commits unspeakable things with his neighbor’s wife, while another practices incest with his daughter-in-law or half-sister. 12 In you murder is for hire, exorbitant interests and profits are taken from the poor, neighbors are oppressed for personal gain; and in you I am forgotten.
13 I will strike My hands at your extortion and murderous ways. 14 Will you be courageous and strong when I come to deal with you? I, the Eternal One, will do what I’ve said I will do. 15 I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you throughout unfamiliar lands! I will put an end to your impurity. 16 When you have been defiled in front of the nations, you will know that I am the Eternal.
17 Then the word of the Eternal came to me with how He would judge these crimes.
Eternal One: 18 Son of man, the people of Israel have become dross to Me; all of them are the dross metals—bronze, iron, tin, and lead—left inside a furnace after silver has been refined. 19 Therefore, I, the Eternal Lord, say to them, “Because you’ve become worthless dross, I will gather you up in the middle of Jerusalem. 20-21 Just as men throw copper, iron, tin, lead, and silver into a furnace to melt the impurities away with fiery blasts, I will gather you inside My furnace called Jerusalem, and you will experience the fire of My wrath as it blows across and melts you inside that city! 22 Just as silver is melted in a furnace, you will be melted in My city. Then you will know I, the Eternal One, have poured out the fire of My wrath upon you.”
23 The word of the Eternal came to me.
Eternal One: 24 Son of man, say to her, “You are a land plagued with drought during My wrath—[not a single drop of rain has fallen from the sky][a].” 25 Her prophets[b] conspire in her midst like raging lions killing their prey; they have destroyed lives, stolen treasures and other valuable things; they have made many wives widows all over the city. 26 Her priests violate My laws and desecrate My holy things. They fail to distinguish between the sacred and profane. They no longer teach that there is a difference between pure and impure! They completely disregard My Sabbaths; as a result I am defamed among My people. 27 Her princes and officials are like a pack of wolves tearing apart their prey. They kill innocent people and ruin lives just to get what they want! 28 Her false prophets whitewash these wicked acts by claiming to receive divine visions, but they are all false! Their divination turns up only lies! They say, “This is what the Eternal Lord says . . . ,” when the Eternal Lord has not said anything to them at all. 29 Her people are full of wickedness: they are bullies and thieves; they have abused the poor and helpless; they have taken advantage of foreigners and perverted justice. 30 I searched for one man among them, a man who could build the wall and stand in the gap before Me and advocate for the land, a man who could convince Me not to destroy it; but I found no one. 31 Therefore, I will dump the fires of My fury on them, and the flames of My indignation will devour them. I will give them what they deserve.
So said the Eternal Lord.
Ezekiel 22
New International Version
Ezekiel 22
New International Version
Judgment on Jerusalem’s Sins
22 The word of the Lord came to me:
2 “Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed?(A) Then confront her with all her detestable practices(B) 3 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, 4 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) 5 Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, you infamous city, full of turmoil.(H)
6 “‘See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood.(I) 7 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) 8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths.(M) 9 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
- Ezekiel 22:16 Or When I have allotted you your inheritance
- Ezekiel 22:25 Septuagint; Hebrew prophets
Ezekiel 22
King James Version
Ezekiel 22
King James Version
22 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.
3 Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord God, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself.
4 Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.
5 Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed.
6 Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.
7 In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.
8 Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.
9 In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.
10 In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.
11 And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.
12 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God.
13 Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.
14 Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it.
15 And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.
16 And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.
17 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
18 Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver.
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
20 As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you.
21 Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst therof.
22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you.
23 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon 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 have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.
26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference 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, to get dishonest gain.
28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken.
29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God.
The Voice (VOICE)
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