Ezekiel, 22

1. Thus the word of the LORD came to me:

2. You, son of man, would you judge, would you judge the bloody city? Then make known all her abominations,

3. and say: Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the city which sheds blood within herself so that her time has come, and which has made idols for her own defilement.

4. By the blood which you shed you have been made guilty, and with the idols you made you have become defiled; you have brought on your day, so that the end of your years has come. Therefore I make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all foreign lands.

5. Those near you and those far off shall deride you because of your foul reputation and your great perversity.

6. See! the princes of Israel, family by family, are in you only for bloodshed.

7. Within you, father and mother are despised; in your midst, they extort from the resident alien; within you, they oppress orphans and widows.

8. What is holy to me you have spurned, and my sabbaths you have desecrated.

9. There are those in you who slander to cause bloodshed; within you are those who feast on the mountains; in your midst are those who do lewd things.

10. In you are those who uncover the nakedness of their fathers, and in you those who coerce women in their menstrual period.

11. There are those in you who do abominable things with the wives of their neighbors, men who defile their daughters-in-law by incest, men who coerce their sisters, the daughters of their own fathers.

12. There are those in you who take bribes to shed blood. You exact interest and usury; you despoil your neighbors violently; and me you have forgotten, says the Lord GOD.

13. See, I am brushing one hand against the other because of the unjust profits you have made and because of the blood shed in your midst.

14. Can your heart remain firm, will your hands be strong, in the days when I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will act.

15. I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you over foreign lands, so that I may purge your uncleanness.

16. In you I will allow myself to be profaned in the eyes of the nations; thus you shall know that I am the LORD.

17. Thus the word of the LORD came to me:

18. Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross for me. All of them are bronze and tin, iron and lead (in the midst of a furnace): dross from silver have they become.

19. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because all of you have become dross, therefore I must gather you together within Jerusalem.

20. Just as silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin are gathered into a furnace and smelted in the roaring flames, so I will gather you together in my furious wrath, put you in, and smelt you.

21. When I have assembled you, I will blast you with the fire of my anger and smelt you with it.

22. You shall be smelted by it just as silver is smelted in a furnace. Thus you shall know that I, the LORD, have poured out my fury on you.

23. Thus the word of the LORD came to me:

24. Son of man, say to her: You are a land unrained on (that is, not rained on) at the time of my fury.

25. Her princes are like roaring lions that tear prey; they devour people, seizing their wealth and precious things, and make widows of many within her.

26. Her priests violate my law and profane what is holy to me; they do not distinguish between the sacred and the profane, nor teach the difference between the unclean and the clean; they pay no attention to my sabbaths, so that I have been profaned in their midst.

27. Her nobles within her are like wolves that tear prey, shedding blood and destroying lives to get unjust gain.

28. Her prophets cover them with whitewash, pretending to visions that are false and performing lying divinations, saying, "Thus says the Lord GOD," although the LORD has not spoken.

29. The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they afflict the poor and the needy, and oppress the resident alien without justice.

30. Thus I have searched among them for someone who could build a wall or stand in the breach before me to keep me from destroying the land; but I found no one.

31. Therefore I have poured out my fury upon them; with my fiery wrath I have consumed them; I have brought down their conduct upon their heads, says the Lord GOD.