Ezekiel 22

1Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,● 2Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations. {judge: or, plead for} {bloody...: Heb. city of bloods?} {shew her: Heb. make her know}● 3Then 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.● 4Thou 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. {infamous...: Heb. polluted of name, much in vexation}● 6Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood. {power: Heb. arm}● 7In 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. {oppression: or, deceit}● 8Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.● 9In 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. {that...: Heb. of slanders}● 10In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.● 11And 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. {one: or, every one} {another: or, every one} {lewdly: or, by lewdness}● 12In 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.● 13Behold, 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.● 14Can 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}.● 15And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.● 16And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I {am} the LORD. {shalt take...: or, shalt be profaned}● 17And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,● 18Son 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. {dross of silver: Heb. drosses, etc}● 19Therefore 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. {As...: Heb. According to the gathering}● 21Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.● 22As 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.● 23And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,● 24Son 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.● 26Her 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. {violated: Heb. offered violence to}● 27Her princes in the midst thereof {are} like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, {and} to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.● 28And 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.● 29The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. {oppression: or, deceit} {wrongfully: Heb. without right}● 30And 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.● 31Therefore 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.●