Ezekiel 22 - NKJV Bible Online

Ezekiel 22

Sins of Jerusalem

Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Now, son of man, ^awill you judge, will you judge ^bthe bloody city? Yes, show her all her abominations! 3 Then say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “The city sheds ^ablood in her own midst, that her time may come; and she makes idols within herself to defile herself. 4 You have become guilty by the blood which you have ^ashed, and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made. You have caused your days to draw near, and have come to the end of your years; ^btherefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all countries. 5 Those near and those far from you will mock you as ¹infamous and full of tumult.
6 “Look, ^athe princes of Israel: each one has used his ¹power to shed blood in you. 7 In you they have ^amade light of father and mother; in your midst they have ^boppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the ¹fatherless and the widow. 8 You have despised My holy things and ^aprofaned My Sabbaths. 9 In you are ^amen who slander to cause bloodshed; ^bin you are those who eat on the mountains; in your midst they commit lewdness. 10 In you men ^auncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are ^bset apart during their impurity. 11 One commits abomination ^awith his neighbor’s wife; ^banother lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; and another in you violates his sister, his father’s ^cdaughter. 12 In you ^athey take bribes to shed blood; ^byou take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and ^chave forgotten Me,” says the Lord God.
13 “Behold, therefore, I ^abeat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst. 14 ^aCan your heart endure, or can your hands remain strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? ^bI, the Lord, have spoken, and will do it. 15 ^aI will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and ^bremove your filthiness completely from you. 16 You shall defile yourself in the sight of the nations; then ^ayou shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”

Israel in the Furnace

17 The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, ^athe house of Israel has become dross to Me; they are all bronze, tin, iron, and lead, in the midst of a ^bfurnace; they have become dross from 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 men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to ^amelt it; so I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there and melt you. 21 Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst. 22 As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have ^apoured out My fury on you.’ ”

Israel’s Wicked Leaders

23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 24 “Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that is ^anot ¹cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’ 25 ^aThe conspiracy of her ¹prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they ^bhave devoured ²people; ^cthey have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26 ^aHer priests have ¹violated My law and ^bprofaned My holy things; they have not ^cdistinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27 Her ^aprinces in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy ¹people, and to get dishonest gain. 28 ^aHer prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, ^bseeing false visions, and divining ^clies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord had not spoken. 29 The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully ^aoppress the stranger. 30 ^aSo I sought for a man among them who would ^bmake a wall, and ^cstand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. 31 Therefore I have ^apoured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed ^btheir deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.

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