22:2 You, son of man, would you judge, would you judge the bloody city? Then make known all her abominations,
22:3 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.
22:4 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.
22:5 Those near you and those far off shall deride you because of your foul reputation and your great perversity.
22:6 See! the princes of Israel, family by family, are in you only for bloodshed.
22:7 Within you, father and mother are despised; in your midst, they extort from the resident alien; within you, they oppress orphans and widows.
22:8 What is holy to me you have spurned, and my sabbaths you have desecrated.
22:9 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.
22:10 In you are those who uncover the nakedness of their fathers, and in you those who coerce women in their menstrual period.
22:11 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.
22:12 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.
22:13 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.
22:14 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.
22:15 I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you over foreign lands, so that I may purge your uncleanness.
22:16 In you I will allow myself to be profaned in the eyes of the nations; thus you shall know that I am the LORD.
22:17 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
22:18 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.
22:19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because all of you have become dross, therefore I must gather you together within Jerusalem.
22:20 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.
22:21 When I have assembled you, I will blast you with the fire of my anger and smelt you with it.
22:22 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.
22:23 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
22:24 Son of man, say to her: You are a land unrained on (that is, not rained on) at the time of my fury.
22:25 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.
22:26 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.
22:27 Her nobles within her are like wolves that tear prey, shedding blood and destroying lives to get unjust gain.
22:28 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.
22:29 The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they afflict the poor and the needy, and oppress the resident alien without justice.
22:30 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.
22:31 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.