Ezekiel

The Bloody City

The word of the Lord came to me:

‘Son of man, will you judge them? Will you judge the city of bloodshed? Charge her with all her abominable practices.

Say: This is the Lord’s message: City of bloodshed, your time has come. You, who have made your own idols to defile yourselves, are nearing your last days; the end of your years has arrived.

That is why I am making you a horror to the nations and a laughingstock for every country.

Those near and far will mock you,for your name is sullied and you are full of chaos.

The leaders of Israel, each according to his power, are united in one goal—to spill blood.

In you, Israel, fathers and mothers are disrespected; in you, foreigners are oppressed, the orphan and widow are mistreated.

You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths.

In you, men slander to shed blood; in you, they go to eat on the high places and act shamefully.

In you are those who defile their father’s bed; in you are those who violate women when they are unclean.

One man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor’s wife, another shamefully dishonors his daughter-in-law, and another violates his own sister, his father’s daughter.

In you, men accept bribesto shed blood. You exact interest and usury, and you rob and exploit your neighbor, and you have forgotten me. It is the Lord who speaks.

Look, I will clap my hands at your dishonest profit and the blood you have shed. Will your courage hold up? Will your hands stay steady when I come against you?

I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will act accordingly.

I will scatter you among the nations;I will disperse you into other countries to rid you of your uncleanness.

Then, you will be dishonored in the eyes of the nations; and you will realize that I am the Lord.”

The word of the Lord came to me:

“Israel has become like dross to me; some are like silver, bronze, tin, iron, and lead. But in the furnace, only dross remains.

The Lord God has spoken: This is how I am gathering you in Jerusalem.

Just as silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin are placed in a furnace to be smelted, so in my anger, I will gather you to put you in the furnace and smelt you.

I will gather you in Jerusalem to stir up the fire of my wrath and smelt you in it.

As silver is smelted in a furnace, so will you be smelted; then you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my fiery wrath against you.

The word of the Lord came to me:

“Son of man, say to Jerusalem: You are a land without rain, a land without a shower on a day of wrath;

a land where the princes are like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour people, take treasures and valuables, and increase the number of widows.

Your priests have broken my laws and profaned my holy things. They have failed to distinguish between what is sacred and what is common; they have not taught the difference between what is clean and what is unclean. They have ignored my Sabbath, and their actions have dishonored me.

The city officials are like wolves that tear into their prey, shedding blood and killing people for unjust gain.

As for the prophets, they whitewash everything with false visions and lying predictions, saying: ‘The Lord has spoken’ when the Lord has not spoken.

The land’s leaders have practiced extortion and robbery, oppressing the poor and needy, molesting the alien and denying him justice.

I searched for a man among them to build a wall and stand in the breach to protect the land, lest I destroy it; but I found none.

So I have poured out my wrath on them; I have destroyed them in the heat of my fury, bringing down on their heads all they have done —it is the Lord who speaks.