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Ezekiel 22

Israel’s Shedding of Blood

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “And you, ^ason of man ^bwill you judge, will you judge ^cthe bloody city? ^dThen declare to her all her abominations. 3 You shall say, Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that ^eher time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself! 4 You have become guilty ^fby the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought ^gyour days near, the appointed time of ^{▼

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Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum; most Hebrew manuscripts until} your years has come. ⁱTherefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries. 5 Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; ^jyour name is defiled; ^kyou are full of tumult.

6 “Behold ^lthe princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 7 Father and mother ^mare treated with contempt in you; the sojourner ⁿsuffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow ^oare wronged in you. 8 ^pYou have despised my holy things and ^qprofaned my Sabbaths. 9 ^rThere are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you ^swho eat on the mountains; ^tthey commit lewdness in your midst. 10 In you ^umen uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. 11 ^vOne commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; ^wanother lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; ^xanother in you violates his sister, his father’s daughter. 12 In you ^ythey take bribes to shed blood; ^zyou take interest and profit ^{▼

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That is, profit that comes from charging interest to the poor (compare Leviticus 25:36)} and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but ^abme you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.

13 “Behold ^acI strike my hand at ^adthe dishonest gain that you have made, and at ^aethe blood that has been in your midst. 14 ^afCan your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? ^agI the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. 15 ^ahI will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and ^aiI will consume your uncleanness out of you. 16 And ^ajyou shall be profaned by your own doing ^akin the sight of the nations, ^aland you shall know that I am the Lord.”

17 And the word of the Lord came to me: 18 ^am“Son of man, the house of Israel has become ^andross to me; all of them are ^aobronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are ^apdross of silver. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, ^aqto blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you ^arin my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. 21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. 22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord; ^asI have poured out my wrath upon you.”

23 And the word of the Lord came to me: 24 “Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is ^atnot cleansed ^auor rained upon in the day of indignation. 25 ^avThe conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is ^awlike a roaring lion ^axtearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26 ^ayHer priests ^azhave done violence to my law and ^bahave profaned my holy things. ^bbThey have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and ^bcthey have disregarded my Sabbaths ^bdso that I am profaned among them. 27 ^beHer princes in her midst are like wolves ^bftearing the prey ^bgshedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 28 And ^bhher prophets have smeared whitewash for them, ^biseeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken. 29 The people of the land ^bjhave practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and ^bkhave extorted from the sojourner without justice. 30 ^blAnd I sought for a man among them ^bmwho should build up the wall ^bnand stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. 31 Therefore ^boI have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned ^bptheir way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.”