Chapter 22

¹ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² And thou, son of man, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, declare thou to her all her iniquities. ³ And thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord God: ¹O city that sheds blood in the midst of her, so that her time should come, and that forms devices against herself, to defile herself; ⁴ in their blood which thou hast shed, thou hast transgressed; and in thy devices which thou hast formed, thou hast polluted thyself; and thou hast brought nigh thy days, and hast brought on the time of thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach to the Gentiles, and a mockery to all the countries, ⁵ to those near thee, and to those far distant from thee; and they shall mock thee, thou that art notoriously unclean, and abundant in iniquities.

⁶ Behold, the princes of the house of Israel have conspired in thee each one with his kindred, that they might shed blood. ⁷ In thee they have reviled father and mother; and in thee they have behaved unjustly toward the stranger: they have oppressed the orphan and widow. ⁸ And they have set at nought my holy things, and in thee they have profaned my sabbaths. ⁹ There are robbers in thee, to shed blood in thee; and in thee they have eaten upon the mountains: they have wrought ungodliness in the midst of thee. ¹⁰ In thee they have uncovered the father's shame; and in thee they have humbled her that was set apart for uncleanness. ¹¹ They have dealt unlawfully each one with his neighbor's wife; and each one in ungodliness has defiled his daughter-in-law: and in thee they have humbled each one his sister, the daughter of his father.

¹² In thee they have received gifts to shed blood; they have received in thee interest and usurious increase; and by oppression thou hast brought thy wickedness to the full, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord.

¹³ And if I shall smite my hand at thine iniquities which thou hast accomplished, which thou hast wrought, and at thy blood that has been shed in the midst of thee, ¹⁴ shall thy heart endure? shall thine hands be strong in the days ²which I bring upon thee? I the Lord have spoken, and will do it. ¹⁵ And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee in the countries, and thy uncleanness shall be removed out of thee. ¹⁶ And I will give heritages in thee in the sight of the nations, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

¹⁷ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁸ Son of man, behold, the house of Israel are all become to me as it were mixed with brass, and iron, and tin, and lead; they are mixed up in the midst of the silver.

¹⁹ Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have become one mixture, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. ²⁰ As silver, and brass, and iron, and tin, and lead, are gathered into the midst of the furnace, to blow fire into it, that they may be melted: so will I take you in my wrath, and I will gather and melt you. ²¹ And I will blow upon you in the

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fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. ²² As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath upon you.

²³ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²⁴ Son of man, say to her, Thou art the land that is not rained upon, neither has rain come upon thee in the day of wrath; ²⁵ whose princes in the midst of her are as roaring lions seizing prey, devouring souls by oppression, and taking bribes; and thy widows are multiplied in the midst of thee. ²⁶ Her priests also have set at nought my law, and profaned my holy things: they have not distinguished between the holy and profane, nor have they distinguished between the unclean and the clean, and have his their eyes from my sabbaths, and I was profaned in the midst of them. ²⁷ Her princes in the midst of her are as wolves ravening to shed blood, that they may get dishonest gain. ²⁸ And her prophets that daub them shall fall, that see vanities, that prophesy falsehoods, saying, Thus saith the Lord, when the Lord has not spoken. ²⁹ That sorely oppress the people of the land with injustice, and commit robbery; oppressing the poor and needy, and not dealing justly with the stranger.

³⁰ And I sought from among them a man behaving uprightly, and standing before me perfectly in the time of wrath, so that I should not utterly destroy her: but I found him not. ³¹ So I have poured out my wrath upon her in the fury of mine anger, to accomplish it. I have recompensed their ways on their own heads, saith the Lord God.