F w1 1,2-. Judgment. Determined.
x1 -2-4. Abominations. General.
w2 -4,5. Judgment. Declared.
x2 6-12. Abominations. Particular.
w3 13-16. Judgment. Detailed.
482 B.C.
Ezekiel 22)
1 Moreover the word of the LORD (Yahaveh) came to me, saying,
2 "Now, you son of man (see 2:1), will you pronounce judgment, will you pronounce judgment on the city of much blood? (Put for great bloodshed: referring to those put to death for the truth's sake by the wicked rulers)
yes, you shall show her all her idolatries.
3 Then say you, 'Thus says the Lord GOD (Adonai Yahaveh), 'The city sheds blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and makes manufactured gods against herself to defile herself.
4 You are become guilty in your blood that you have shed; and have defiled yourself in your idols which you have made; and you have caused your days (put for judgment inflicted in them) to draw near, and are come even to your years:
therefore have I made you a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all countries. (Cp. Deut. 28:37. These words appear no where else.)
5 Those (i.e. those cities) that be near, and those that be far from you, shall mock you, which are infamous and full of confusion.
6 Behold, the leaders of Israel, every one were in you according to their power to shed blood.
7 In you have they set light by father and mother (cp. Deut. 27:16): in the midst of you have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in you have they vexed the fatherless and the widow. (Cp. Ex. 22:21,22.)
8 You have despised My holy things, and have profaned My sabbaths. (See Lev. 19:30.)
9 In you are men that carry tales to shed blood (cp. Lev. 19:16): and in you they eat upon the mountains (i.e. the idolatries practiced on the mountains. Cp. 18:6): in the midst of you they commit lewdness.
10 In you have they discovered their fathers' nakedness (cp. Lev. 18:7-9; 20:11,17): in you have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution. (Cp. Lev. 18:19.)
11 And one has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife (cp. Lev. 18:20; 20:10. Deut. 22:22.); and another has lewdly defiled his daughter in law (cp. Lev. 18:15; 20:12); and another in you has humbled his sister, his father's daughter. (Cp. Lev. 18:9; 20:17.)
12 In you have they taken gifts to shed blood (cp. Ex. 23:8. Deut. 16:19; 27:25); you have taken usury and increase (cp. Ex. 22:25. Lev. 25:26. Deut. 23:19), and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten me (cp. Deut. 32:18), says the Lord GOD.
13 Behold, therefore I have smitten My hand at your dishonest gain which you have made (see 21:17), and at your blood which have been in the midst of you.
14 Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it. (Cp. 21:17. Num. 23:19.)
15 And I will scatter you among the nations (cp. Deut. 4:27; 28:25,64), and disperse you in the countries, and will consume your filthiness out of you.
16 And you shall be profaned in yourself (or, on your own account) in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the LORD.' ' "
E P 17,18. Incrimination.
Q 19. Gathering.
R 20. Comparison.
Q 21. Gathering.
P 22. Incrimination.
17 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
18 "Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross (lead put into the crucible with gold or silver causes the baser metals to retire, or form scoriae or dross at the side of the crucible, leaving the pure gold or silver in the middle. But here the silver becomes the dross. Cp. v.19): all they are copper (or bronze), and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace (or crucible); they are even the dross of silver.
19 Therefore thus say the Lord GOD; 'Because you are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
20 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 blow upon you there, and melt you.
21 Yes, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst thereof.
22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall you be melted in the midst thereof; and you shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you.' "
F S .23. . His word.
T 24. The Land. Not cleansed.
U y 25. The prophets. Conspiracy.
z 26. The priests. Violated the Law.
V 27. The princes. Like wolves.
U y 28. The prophets. Daubed.
z 29. The People. Violated the Law.
T 30. The Land. No intercessor.
S 31. Yahaveh. His judgment.
23 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
24 "Son of man, say to her, 'You are the land that is not to be rained upon, nor to receive fruitful showers in the day of indignation.
25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.
26 Her priests have violated My law, and have profaned My holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane (cp. Lev. 10:10; 11:47; 22:22), neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies to them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD has not spoken.
29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yes, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. (Cp. Ex. 22:21; 23:9. Lev. 19:23,&c.)
30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. (Cp. 13:5. Jer. 5:1.)
31 Therefore have I 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."