22:1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
22:2 Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the
bloody city? yes, thou shalt show her all her abominations.
22:3 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.
22:4 Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed;
and hast defiled thyself by thy idols which thou hast made; and
thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come [even] to
thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach to the
heathen, and a mocking to all countries.
22:5 [Those that are] near, and [those that are] far from thee,
shall mock thee, [who art] infamous [and] much troubled.
22:6 Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to
their power to shed blood.
22:7 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 oppressed the fatherless and the widow.
22:8 Thou hast despised my holy things, and hast profaned my
sabbaths.
22:9 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.
22:10 In thee have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness: in
thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.
22:11 And one hath committed abomination with his neighbor's
wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and
another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.
22:12 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast
taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained from
thy neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the
Lord GOD.
22:13 Behold, therefore I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest
gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in
the midst of thee.
22:14 Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong, in the
days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken [it],
and will do [it].
22:15 And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse
thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of
thee.
22:16 And thou shalt take thy inheritance in thyself in the
sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD.
22:17 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
22:18 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.
22:19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Because ye are all
become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the
midst of Jerusalem.
22:20 [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 my anger and in my
fury, and I will leave [you there], and melt you.
22:21 Yes, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of
my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst of it.
22:22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall
ye be melted in the midst of it; and ye shall know that I the
LORD have poured out my fury upon you.
22:23 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
22:24 Son of man, say to her, Thou [art] the land that is not
cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
22:25 [There is] a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst of
her, 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 of her.
22:26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned my
holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and
profane, neither have they shown [difference] between the
unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my
sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
22:27 Her princes in the midst of her [are] like wolves ravening
the prey, to shed blood, [and] to destroy souls, to get
dishonest gain.
22:28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered
[mortar], seeing vanity, and divining lies to them, saying,
Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.
22:29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised
robbery, and have oppressed the poor and needy: yes, they have
oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
22:30 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.
22:31 Therefore have I poured out my 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.
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