Ezekiel 22

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Then, I felt a powerful message from the Lord wash over me, as if He was speaking directly to my heart.

Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.

Will you, human, dare to judge the violent city? Yes, you will expose all its horrors.

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.

In the voice of the Lord, declare this: The city, stained with blood, is nearing its reckoning. It creates false gods, only to tarnish its own purity.

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.

Your hands are stained with the blood you've shed, and your soul is tainted by the false idols you've created. You've rushed towards your end, and your time is near. Because of this, I've made you an object of scorn and ridicule to all nations.

Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed.

Those close to you and those far away will ridicule you, for you are notorious and greatly troubled.

Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.

Look, the leaders of Israel, each one of them used their power to cause harm and spill blood.

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.

They have disrespected parents and oppressed foreigners among you; they have tormented the orphans and widows in your midst.

Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.

You've disrespected what I hold sacred and dishonored my days of rest.

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.

In you, people spread harmful rumors that lead to violence. They feast upon your hills, and in your heart, they engage in immoral acts.

In thee have they discovered their fathers’ nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.

In you, men have uncovered their fathers' nakedness by sleeping with their fathers' wives; in you, they have forced themselves on women during their monthly impurity.

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.

One man has committed a detestable act with his neighbor's wife; another has shamefully violated his daughter-in-law; and yet another has violated his own sister, his father's daughter.

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.

You've accepted bribes, leading to bloodshed. You've exploited others with interest and gain, selfishly profiting from your neighbors. Yet, in all this, you've forgotten me, says the Lord.

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.

Seeing your deceitful profits and the harm you've caused, I am deeply pained and angered.

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.

Will your heart stay resilient, or your hands remain firm, in the days when I deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it.

And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.

I will spread you among different nations, scatter you across various lands, and cleanse you of your impurities.

And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

You will be defiled by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and then you'll truly understand that I am the Lord.

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

The LORD's message reached me, speaking to my heart, saying,

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.

To me, the people of Israel have lost their shine, like precious metals turned to worthless residue. They've become as common and unremarkable as brass, tin, iron, and lead in a furnace, no more valuable than the discarded remnants of silver.

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

So says the Lord God, "Since you've all become worthless dross, I will gather you into the heart of Jerusalem."

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.

Just as silver, bronze, iron, lead and tin are gathered into the furnace and melted in its intense heat, so too will I gather you in my anger and fury, leave you there, and melt you.

Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst therof.

Indeed, I will bring you together, and in the heat of my anger, I will breathe upon you. You will dissolve within it.

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.

Just as silver melts in a fiery furnace, so too will you be melted in the city. You'll realize then that I, the Lord, have poured out my anger on you.

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Suddenly, I felt a divine message from the LORD, whispering to me, saying,

Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

Hey there, tell her this: You are like a land that hasn't been purified or blessed with rain during times of anger.

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.

Her prophets are plotting within, like hungry lions roaring for their prey. They've consumed innocent souls, stolen treasures and valuables, leaving many women in mourning.

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.

The sacred leaders have broken my rules, disrespecting what's holy to me. They've blurred the line between sacred and ordinary, clean and unclean, ignoring my holy days. I feel dishonored among them.

Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

Her leaders are like savage wolves, hungry for power, spilling innocent blood and crushing spirits for their own corrupt gains.

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.

Her guides have misled her with false promises, blinded by their own illusions, feeding her lies in the name of God, when God has not spoken.

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.

The locals have cruelly exploited and robbed others, causing distress to the poor and needy. They've unjustly mistreated outsiders.

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.

I searched for someone who would protect and stand up for the land, to prevent me from destroying it. But, I found no one.

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.

So, I unleashed my fury on them, burning them with my anger. Their actions have come back to haunt them, declares the Lord God.