Yechezkel 22 יחזקאל כ״ב

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? then make known to her all her abominations.

And thou shalt say, Thus says the Lord God, A city that sheds blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and makes idols against herself to defile herself.

Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and art defiled in thy idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come to thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all countries.

Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee, infamous as thou art, and full of tumult.

Behold, the princes of Yisra᾽el, each of them amongst thee, putting out his full force, for shedding blood.

Amongst thee, they have made light of father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee they have wronged the fatherless and the widow.

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

In thee are men that did carry slander to shed blood: and in thee they did eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they have committed lewdness.

In thee they have uncovered their father’s nakedness: in thee they have abused her who is unclean of her menstrual flow.

One has committed a disgusting act with his neighbour’s wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee has abused his sister, his father’s daughter.

In thee they have taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and interest, and thou hast taken unjust gain of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, says the Lord God.

Behold, therefore I have struck my hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which has been in the midst of thee.

Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it.

And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy uncleanliness out of thee.

And thou shalt be profaned by thyself in the sight of the nations, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Son of man, the house of Yisra᾽el is to me become dross: all of them, brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver.

Therefore thus says the Lord God; Because you are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Yerushalayim.

As 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 my anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you.

And I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it.

As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall you be melted in the midst of it; and you shall know that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

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

There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in the midst of her.

Her priests have violated my Tora, and have profaned my holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have hidden their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

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

And her prophets have daubed them with whitewash, seeing false visions, and divining lies to them, saying, Thus says the Lord God, when the Lord has not spoken.

The people of the land have used oppression, and committed robbery, and have wronged the poor and needy: indeed, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the breach before me the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, says the Lord God.