Ezekiel 22
The LORD catalogs Jerusalem's sins: bloodshed, idolatry, dishonoring parents, oppressing the stranger, profaning the Sabbath. Princes, priests, prophets, and people alike are corrupt. The LORD sought someone to stand in the gap but found no one, and so He pours out His wrath.
| v | King James Version | Modern English |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, | The word of the LORD came to me: |
| 2 | Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations. | "Son of man, will You judge? Will You judge the city of bloodshed? Confront her with 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. | "Say: This is what the Lord GOD says: O city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood in her midst and defiles herself by making idols —" |
| 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. | "you have become guilty because of the blood You have shed 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. Therefore I have made You an object of scorn to the heathen and a laughingstock to all the countries." |
| 5 | Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed. | "Those near and far will mock You — infamous city, full of turmoil." |
| 6 | Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood. | "See how each of the princes of Israel who are in You uses His 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. | "In You they have treated father and mother with contempt. In You they have oppressed the foreigner and mistreated the fatherless and the widow." |
| 8 | Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths. | "You have despised My holy things and desecrated My Sabbaths." |
| 9 | In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in thee have they committed lewdness. | "In You are slanderers bent on shedding blood. In You are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit indecent acts." |
| 10 | In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution. | "In You men violate their fathers' wives. In You men rape women during their periods." |
| 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. | "In You one man commits a detestable offense with His neighbor's wife. Another shamefully defiles His daughter-in-law. Another violates His sister, His own 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. | "In You people accept bribes to shed blood. You take interest and profit and make gain from Your neighbors by extortion. And You have forgotten Me, declares 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. | "I will surely strike My hands together at the unjust gain You have made and at the blood that has been shed in You." |
| 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. | "Will Your courage hold out or Your hands remain strong in the day I deal with You? I the LORD have spoken, and I 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. | "I will scatter You among the heathen and disperse you through the countries. I will purge You of Your uncleanness." |
| 16 | And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD. | "When You have been defiled in the eyes of the heathen, you will know that I am the LORD." |
| 17 | And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, | The word of the LORD came to me: |
| 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. | "Son of man, the house of Israel has become worthless to Me. They are all the impurities — bronze, tin, iron, and lead — left inside a furnace. They have become like slag from 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. | "Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because You have all become slag, I will gather You into 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 silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin are gathered into a furnace to be melted with a blast of fire, so I will gather You in My anger and My wrath. I will put You in the furnace 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 thereof. | "I will gather You and blow on You with My fiery wrath. You will be melted inside the city." |
| 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. | "As silver is melted in a furnace, so You will be melted inside the city. Then You will know that I the LORD have poured out My wrath on You." |
| 23 | And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, | The word of the LORD came to me: |
| 24 | Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. | "Son of man, say to the land: You are a land that has not been cleansed or rained on in the day of wrath." |
| 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. | "The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour people. They seize treasure and precious things. They make many widows within her." |
| 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. | "Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They do not distinguish between the holy and the common. They do not teach the difference between the unclean and the clean. They shut their eyes to 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. | "Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey — shedding blood and destroying lives to make unjust 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. | "Her prophets whitewash these deeds with false visions and lying divinations. They say, 'This is what the Lord GOD says,' when the LORD has 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. | "The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery. They oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice." |
| 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. | "I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall 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." |
| 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. | "So I poured out My wrath on them and consumed them with My fiery anger. I brought down on their own heads all they had done, declares the Lord GOD." |