Ezekiel 22

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

1The LORD spoke his word to me. He said:

2Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.

2"Son of man, that is my name for you, Ezekiel. Will you judge this city? Judge the city where blood is spilled. Show her every awful thing she has done."

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.

3Then say this: The Lord GOD says, "This city kills people inside her own walls. So her time of trouble is coming. She makes idols, statues people bow to, and makes herself dirty."

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.

4You are guilty because of the blood you spilled. You made yourself dirty with the idols you built. You have pulled the end of your days close. Your years have run out. So I let other nations shame you and laugh at you.

5Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed.

5Nations near you and far away will make fun of you. Everyone knows your bad name. You are full of trouble inside.

6Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.

6Look at the princes of Israel, the men who rule you. Every one of them used his power to kill.

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.

7Inside you, people treat their father and mother as if they do not matter. Inside you, strangers from other lands are cheated. Children with no father and women with no husband are hurt.

8Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.

8You hated my holy things. You did not keep my Sabbaths, the rest days I set apart.

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.

9Inside you are men who tell lies so that someone gets killed. Some eat meals for idols up on the mountains. People do shameful things there.

10In thee have they discovered their fathers’ nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.

10Inside you, men have shamed their own father by sleeping with his wife. Inside you, men have forced women at a time God's law said not to.

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.

11One man does a terrible thing with his neighbor's wife. Another sleeps with his son's wife. Another forces his own sister, his father's daughter.

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.

12Inside you, people take money to have someone killed. You lend money and charge far too much back. You squeeze your neighbors to get more. And you have forgotten me, says 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.

13So look, I clap my hands hard in anger. I am angry at the money you took unfairly. I am angry at the blood spilled inside you.

Note"I have smitten mine hand" means clapping the hands together hard. Back then this was a sign of strong anger.

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.

14Will your heart stay brave on the day I deal with you? Will your hands stay strong? I, the LORD, have said it. I 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.

15I will scatter you among the nations. I will spread you out through many lands. I will burn the dirt out of you.

16And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

16The nations will watch while your own sin makes you dirty. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

17And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

17The word of the LORD came to me again. He said:

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.

18Son of man, the people of Israel have become junk metal to me. They are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the fire. They are only the waste left over from silver.

NoteDross is the junk left floating on top when metal is melted. Workers scrape it off and throw it away.

19Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

19So the Lord GOD says this: "You have all become junk metal. So I will gather you into the middle of Jerusalem."

20As 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.

20Workers pile silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into a furnace, a very hot oven. They blow fire on it to melt it. I will gather you the same way, in my anger. I will leave you there and melt you.

21Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.

21Yes, I will gather you together. I will blow on you with the fire of my anger. You will melt inside that city.

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.

22Silver melts inside the hot oven. You will melt inside the city the same way. Then you will know that I, the LORD, poured out my anger on you.

23And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

23The word of the LORD came to me again. He said:

24Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

24Son of man, say this to her: "You are a land that has not been washed clean. On the day of my anger, no rain fell on you."

25There 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.

25Her prophets, men who say they speak for God, have made a secret plan together. They are like a roaring lion tearing its food. They have destroyed people's lives. They have taken treasure and costly things. They have left many women with no husband.

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.

26Her priests, the men who serve God at the temple, have broken my law. They treated my holy things as if they were nothing. They did not show what is holy and what is ordinary. They did not teach what is clean and unclean. They shut their eyes to my Sabbaths. So I am not honored among them.

27Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

27Her leaders inside the city are like wolves tearing their food. They spill blood and destroy lives to get money unfairly.

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.

28Her prophets cover all this up like a wall smeared with weak plaster. They see things that are not real and tell lies. They say, "This is what the Lord GOD says," but the LORD has not spoken.

Note"Untempered morter" is thin whitewash. It hides cracks in a wall but does not make the wall strong.

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.

29The people of the land cheat and steal from each other. They hurt the poor and those who have nothing. They treat strangers from other lands unfairly.

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.

30I looked for one man among them to fix the broken wall. I wanted someone to stand in the gap and speak for the land. Then I would not destroy it. But I found no one.

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.

31So I have poured out my anger on them. I have burned them up with the fire of my anger. I have paid them back for what they did, says the Lord GOD.