| 章 |
| 22:1 |
The word of the LORD came to me:
|
| 22:2 |
"Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her detestable practices
|
| 22:3 |
and say: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood in her midst and defiles herself by making idols,
|
| 22:4 |
you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries.
|
| 22:5 |
Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, O infamous city, full of turmoil.
|
| 22:6 |
"`See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood.
|
| 22:7 |
In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the alien and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.
|
| 22:8 |
You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths.
|
| 22:9 |
In you are slanderous men bent on shedding blood; in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts.
|
| 22:10 |
In you are those who dishonor their fathers' bed; in you are those who violate women during their period, when they are ceremonially unclean.
|
| 22:11 |
In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor's wife, another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law, and another violates his sister, his own father's daughter.
|
| 22:12 |
In you men accept bribes to shed blood; you take usury and excessive interest and make unjust gain from your neighbors by extortion. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign LORD.
|
| 22:13 |
"`I will surely strike my hands together at the unjust gain you have made and at the blood you have shed in your midst.
|
| 22:14 |
Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.
|
| 22:15 |
I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you through the countries; and I will put an end to your uncleanness.
|
| 22:16 |
When you have been defiled in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the LORD.' "
|
| 22:17 |
Then the word of the LORD came to me:
|
| 22:18 |
"Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are but the dross of silver.
|
| 22:19 |
Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: `Because you have all become dross, I will gather you into Jerusalem.
|
| 22:20 |
As men gather silver, copper, iron, lead and tin into a furnace to melt it with a fiery blast, so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you.
|
| 22:21 |
I will gather you and I will blow on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her.
|
| 22:22 |
As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the LORD have poured out my wrath upon you.' "
|
| 22:23 |
Again the word of the LORD came to me:
|
| 22:24 |
"Son of man, say to the land, `You are a land that has had no rain or showers in the day of wrath.
|
| 22:25 |
'There is a conspiracy of her princes within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her.
|
| 22:26 |
Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
|
| 22:27 |
Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain.
|
| 22:28 |
Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says'--when the LORD has not spoken.
|
| 22:29 |
The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice.
|
| 22:30 |
"I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.
|
| 22:31 |
So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD."
|
