[[Ezekiel 21|<< Ezekiel 21]] | [[Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] | [[Ezekiel 23|Ezekiel 23 >>]] ### Ezekiel 22 1 MOREOVER the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ^1 2 Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt show her all her abominations. ^2 3 Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city sheds blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and makes idols against herself to defile herself. ^3 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. ^4 5 _Those_ _that_ _be_ near, and _those_ _that_ _be_ far from thee, shall mock thee, _which_ _art_ infamous _and_ much vexed. ^5 6 Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood. ^6 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. ^7 8 Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths. ^8 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. ^9 10 In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution. ^10 11 And one has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee has humbled his sister, his father's daughter. ^11 12 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD. ^12 13 ¶ Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which has been in the midst of thee. ^13 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_. ^14 15 And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee. ^15 16 And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I _am_ the LORD. ^16 17 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ^17 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. ^18 19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. ^19 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. ^20 21 Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. ^21 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. ^22 23 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ^23 24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou _art_ the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. ^24 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. ^25 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 showed _difference_ between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. ^26 27 Her princes in the midst thereof _are_ like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, _and_ to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. ^27 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 has not spoken. ^28 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. ^29 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. ^30 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. ^31