Ezekiel 22

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,	1 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
2 'Son of man, are you ready to judge? Are you ready to judge the blood-stained city? Confront her withal her loathsome practices!	2 You, son of man, would you judge, would you judge the bloody city? Then make known all her abominations,
3 Say, "The Lord Yahweh says this: City shedding blood inside yourself to hasten your doom, makingfoul idols on your soil to defile yourself,	3 and say: Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the city which sheds blood within herself so that her time has come, and which has made idols for her own defilement.
4 you have incurred guilt by the blood you have shed, you have defiled yourself with the foul idols youhave made, you have shortened your days, you have come to the end of your years. This is why I have madeyou an object of scorn to the nations and a laughing-stock to every country.	4 By the blood which you shed you have been made guilty, and with the idols you made you have become defiled; you have brought on your day, so that the end of your years has come. Therefore I make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all foreign lands.
5 From far and near they will taunt you with your infamous disorders.	5 Those near you and those far off shall deride you because of your foul reputation and your great perversity.
6 "Look! In you the princes of Israel, one and all, have furthered their own interests at the cost ofbloodshed;	6 See! the princes of Israel, family by family, are in you only for bloodshed.
7 in you people have despised their fathers and mothers; in you they have il -treated the settler; in youthey have oppressed the widow and orphan.	7 Within you, father and mother are despised; in your midst, they extort from the resident alien; within you, they oppress orphans and widows.
8 You have treated my sanctuary with contempt, you have profaned my Sabbaths.	8 What is holy to me you have spurned, and my sabbaths you have desecrated.
9 In you informers incite to bloodshed; in you people eat on the mountains and act licentiously;	9 There are those in you who slander to cause bloodshed; within you are those who feast on the mountains; in your midst are those who do lewd things.
10 in you they have sexual intercourse with their fathers; in you they force themselves on women in theirperiods;	10 In you are those who uncover the nakedness of their fathers, and in you those who coerce women in their menstrual period.
11 in you one man engages in loathsome practices with his neighbour's wife, another lewdly defiles hisdaughter-in-law, another violates his sister, his own father's daughter.	11 There are those in you who do abominable things with the wives of their neighbors, men who defile their daughters-in-law by incest, men who coerce their sisters, the daughters of their own fathers.
12 In you people take bribes for shedding blood; you lend for profit and charge interest, you profit fromyour fel ow by extortion and have forgotten about me -- declares the Lord Yahweh.	12 There are those in you who take bribes to shed blood. You exact interest and usury; you despoil your neighbors violently; and me you have forgotten, says the Lord GOD.
13 "Now I shal clap my hands at your acts of banditry and the blood that flows in you.	13 See, I am brushing one hand against the other because of the unjust profits you have made and because of the blood shed in your midst.
14 Wil your heart be able to resist, will your hands be steady, the day when I cal you to account? I,Yahweh, have spoken and shall act.	14 Can your heart remain firm, will your hands be strong, in the days when I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will act.
15 I shal scatter you among the nations and disperse you in foreign countries, and so put an end to thefilthiness now inside you;	15 I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you over foreign lands, so that I may purge your uncleanness.
16 through your own fault, you wil be profaned in the eyes of the nations, and you wil know that I amYahweh!" '	16 In you I will allow myself to be profaned in the eyes of the nations; thus you shall know that I am the LORD.
17 The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as fol ows,	17 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
18 'Son of man, for me, the House of Israel has become dross: copper, tin, iron, lead, al mixed uptogether in the melting-pot; they are dross.	18 Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross for me. All of them are bronze and tin, iron and lead (in the midst of a furnace): dross from silver have they become.
19 And so, Lord Yahweh says this, "Since you have al become dross, right! I shall collect you insideJerusalem.	19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because all of you have become dross, therefore I must gather you together within Jerusalem.
20 As silver, copper, iron, lead and tin are col ected in the melting-pot, and the fire is blown underneathto melt them down, so I shal collect you in my furious anger and have you melted down;	20 Just as silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin are gathered into a furnace and smelted in the roaring flames, so I will gather you together in my furious wrath, put you in, and smelt you.
21 I shal collect you and blow up the fire of my rage for you and have you melted down inside the city.	21 When I have assembled you, I will blast you with the fire of my anger and smelt you with it.
22 As silver is melted in the melting-pot, so you will be melted down inside the city, and you wil knowthat I, Yahweh, have vented my fury on you." '	22 You shall be smelted by it just as silver is smelted in a furnace. Thus you shall know that I, the LORD, have poured out my fury on you.
23 The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as fol ows,	23 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
24 'Son of man, say to her, "You are a land that has not received rain or shower on the day of anger.	24 Son of man, say to her: You are a land unrained on (that is, not rained on) at the time of my fury.
25 In you, the princes are like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They have eaten the people, seized wealthand jewels and widowed many inside her.	25 Her princes are like roaring lions that tear prey; they devour people, seizing their wealth and precious things, and make widows of many within her.
26 Her priests have violated my law and desecrated my sanctuary; they have made no distinctionbetween sacred and profane, they have not taught people the difference between clean and unclean; they haveturned their eyes away from my Sabbaths and I have been dishonoured by them.	26 Her priests violate my law and profane what is holy to me; they do not distinguish between the sacred and the profane, nor teach the difference between the unclean and the clean; they pay no attention to my sabbaths, so that I have been profaned in their midst.
27 In her the leaders are wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood and killing people to steal theirpossessions.	27 Her nobles within her are like wolves that tear prey, shedding blood and destroying lives to get unjust gain.
28 Her prophets have plastered these things over with their empty visions and lying prophecies, saying:Yahweh says this, although Yahweh has not spoken.	28 Her prophets cover them with whitewash, pretending to visions that are false and performing lying divinations, saying, "Thus says the Lord GOD," although the LORD has not spoken.
29 The people of the country have taken to extortion and banditry; they have oppressed the poor andneedy and il -treated the settler in a way that is unjustifiable.	29 The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they afflict the poor and the needy, and oppress the resident alien without justice.
30 I have been looking for someone among them to build a barricade and oppose me in the breach, todefend the country and prevent me from destroying it; but I have found no one.	30 Thus I have searched among them for someone who could build a wall or stand in the breach before me to keep me from destroying the land; but I found no one.
31 Hence I have vented my fury on them; I have put an end to them in the fire of my rage. I have madetheir conduct recoil on their own heads -- declares the Lord Yahweh." '	31 Therefore I have poured out my fury upon them; with my fiery wrath I have consumed them; I have brought down their conduct upon their heads, says the Lord GOD.