Eze 22 | NASB2020 | STEP | Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying ,

Ezekiel 22

The Sins of Israel

1 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then inform her of all her abominations. 3 And you shall say, ‘This is what the Lord ^{▼▼Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch}God says: “A city ^bshedding blood in her midst, so that her time is coming; and a city that makes idols, contrary to her own good, for defilement! 4 You have become ^cguilty by ^{▼▼Lit your}the blood which you have shed, and you have become defiled by your idols which you have made. So you have brought your days closer and have come to your years; therefore I have made you a ^edisgrace to the nations, and an object of mocking to all the lands. 5 Those who are near and those who are far from you will make fun of you, you of ill repute, full of ^fturmoil.

6 “Behold, the ^grulers of Israel, each according to his ^{▼▼Lit arm}power, have been among you for the purpose of shedding blood. 7 They have ⁱtreated father and mother with contempt among you. They have oppressed the ^jstranger in your midst; they have oppressed the ^korphan and the widow among you. 8 You have ^ldespised My holy things and ^mprofaned My Sabbaths. 9 Slanderous men have been among you for the purpose of shedding blood, and among you they have eaten at the mountain shrines. In your midst they have ⁿcommitted outrageous sin. 10 Among you ^{▼▼Lit he has}they have ^puncovered their fathers’ nakedness; among you they have abused her who was ^qunclean in her menstruation. 11 And one has committed abomination with his ^rneighbor’s wife, another has outrageously defiled his ^sdaughter-in-law, and another among you has sexually ^tabused his sister, his father’s daughter. 12 Among you they have ^utaken bribes to shed blood; you have taken ^{▼▼Possibly interest on money and food loans
,} ^winterest, you have injured your neighbors by ^xoppression, and you have ^yforgotten Me,” declares the Lord God.

13 “Behold, then, I strike with My hand your ^zprofit which you have made and ^{▼▼Lit your}the bloodshed which is among you. 14 Can ^abyour heart endure, or can your hands be strong for the days that I will deal with you? ^acI, the Lord, have spoken and will act. 15 And I will ^adscatter you among the nations and disperse you among the lands, and I will ^aeeliminate your uncleanness from you. 16 Then you will defile yourself in the sight of the nations, and you will ^afknow that I am the Lord.”’”

17 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, the house of Israel has become ^{▼▼Lit dross
,} ^ahwaste metal to Me; all of them are ^aibronze, tin, iron, and lead in the ^ajsmelting furnace; they are the ^{▼▼Lit dross}waste metal of silver. 19 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because all of you have become ^{▼▼Lit dross}waste metal, therefore, behold, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As they gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the ^amsmelting furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I will place you there and melt you. 21 And I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it. 22 As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, the Lord, have ^anpoured out My wrath on you.’”

23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 24 “Son of man, say to her, ‘You are a land that is ^aonot clean or rained on in the day of indignation.’ 25 There is a ^apconspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have ^aqdevoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many ^arwidows in the midst of her. 26 Her ^aspriests have done violence to My Law and have ^atprofaned My holy things; they have made no ^audistinction between the holy and the ^{▼▼Lit profane}common, and they have not taught the difference between the ^awunclean and the clean; and they have closed their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am defiled among them. 27 Her leaders within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and ^axdestroying lives in order to make ^aydishonest profit. 28 And her prophets have coated with whitewash for them, seeing ^azfalse visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ when the Lord has not spoken. 29 The people of the land have practiced ^baextortion and committed robbery, and they have oppressed the poor and needy, and have ^bboppressed the stranger without justice. 30 I ^bcsearched for a man among them who would ^bdbuild up a wall and ^bestand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found ^{▼▼Lit not}no one. 31 So I have poured out My ^bgindignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; I have brought ^bhtheir way upon their heads,” declares the Lord God.