Ezekiel 22

Israel's Shedding of Blood

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 "And you, y son of man, z will you judge, will you judge a the bloody city? b Then declare to her all her abominations. 3 You shall say, Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that c her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself! 4 You have become guilty a by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought c your days near, the appointed time of 1 your years has come. d Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries. 5 Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; e your name is defiled; f you are full of tumult.

6 "Behold, g the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 7 Father and mother h are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner i suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow i are wronged in you. 8 j You have despised my holy things and k profaned my Sabbaths. 9 l There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you m who eat on the mountains; n they commit lewdness in your midst. 10 In you o men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. 11 p One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; q another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; r another in you violates his sister, his father's daughter. 12 In you s they take bribes to shed blood; t you take interest and profit 2 and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but u me you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.

13 "Behold, v I strike my hand at w the dishonest gain that you have made, and at x the blood that has been in your midst. 14 y Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? z I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. 15 a I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and b I will consume your uncleanness out of you. 16 And c you shall be profaned by your own doing d in the sight of the nations, e and you shall know that I am the Lord."

17 And the word of the Lord came to me: 18 f "Son of man, the house of Israel has become g dross to me; all of them are h bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are i dross of silver. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, j to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you k in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. 21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. 22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord; l I have poured out my wrath upon you."

23 And the word of the Lord came to me: 24 "Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is m not cleansed n or rained upon in the day of indignation. 25 o The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is p like a roaring lion q tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26 r Her priests s have done violence to my law and t have profaned my holy things. u They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and v they have disregarded my Sabbaths, w so that I am profaned among them. 27 x Her princes in her midst are like wolves y tearing the prey, z shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 28 And a her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, b seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord God,' when the Lord has not spoken. 29 The people of the land c have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and c have extorted from the sojourner without justice. 30 d And I sought for a man among them e who should build up the wall e and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. 31 Therefore f I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned g their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God."

  1. Cross References
    Ezekiel 2:1
    And he said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.
  2. Cross References
    Ezekiel 20:4
    Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Let them know the abominations of their fathers.
  3. Cross References
    Ezekiel 16:38
    And I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy.
    Ezekiel 23:37
    For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even offered up to them for food the children whom they had borne to me.
    Ezekiel 24:6
    Therefore thus says the Lord God : Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice.
    2 Kings 21:16
    Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
    Ezekiel 7:23
    Forge a chain! For the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence.
  4. Cross References
    Ezekiel 16:2
    Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations.
    Ezekiel 20:4
    Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Let them know the abominations of their fathers.
  5. Cross References
    Ezekiel 21:25
    And you, O profane wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day has come, the time of your final punishment.
    Ezekiel 21:29
    While they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you - to place you on the necks of the profane wicked, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment.
  6. Cross References
    Ezekiel 22:2
    And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations.
  7. Cross References
    Ezekiel 22:3
    You shall say, Thus says the Lord God : A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself!
  8. Cross References
    Ezekiel 5:14
    Moreover, I will make you a desolation and an object of reproach among the nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by.
  9. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:21
    How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.
  10. Cross References
    Isaiah 22:2
    You who are full of shoutings, tumultuous city, exultant town? Your slain are not slain with the sword or dead in battle.
  11. Cross References
    Ezekiel 22:27
    Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.
  12. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 27:16
    "'Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'
    Ephesians 6:2
    Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise).
    Exodus 20:12
    Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
  13. Cross References
    Exodus 22:21 - 22
    You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
  14. Cross References
    Exodus 22:21 - 22
    You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
  15. Cross References
    Ezekiel 22:26
    Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
  16. Cross References
    Ezekiel 20:13
    But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. "Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them.
  17. Cross References
    Leviticus 19:16
    You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.
    1 Samuel 22:9 - 19
    Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, "I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.
  18. Cross References
    Ezekiel 18:6
    If he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife or approach a woman in her time of menstrual impurity.
  19. Cross References
    Ezekiel 16:43
    Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, I have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord God. Have you not committed lewdness in addition to all your abominations?
  20. Cross References
    Leviticus 18:7 - 8
    You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness.
    Leviticus 20:11
    If a man lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
  21. Cross References
    Leviticus 18:20
    And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor's wife and so make yourself unclean with her.
    Jeremiah 5:8
    They were well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor's wife.
    Ezekiel 18:6
    If he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife or approach a woman in her time of menstrual impurity.
  22. Cross References
    Leviticus 18:15
    You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son's wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness.
    Leviticus 20:12
    If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them.
    Amos 2:7
    Those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted; a man and his father go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned.
  23. Cross References
    Leviticus 18:9
    You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home.
    Leviticus 20:17
    If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister's nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity.
  24. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 27:25
    "'Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'
  25. Cross References
    Ezekiel 18:8
    Does not lend at interest or take any profit, withholds his hand from injustice, executes true justice between man and man.
  26. Cross References
    Ezekiel 23:35
    Therefore thus says the Lord God : Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.
    Jeremiah 2:32
    Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
  27. Cross References
    Ezekiel 21:14
    As for you, son of man, prophesy. Clap your hands and let the sword come down twice, yes, three times, the sword for those to be slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter, which surrounds them.
    Ezekiel 21:17
    I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the Lord have spoken.
  28. Cross References
    Ezekiel 22:27
    Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.
  29. Cross References
    Ezekiel 22:2
    And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations.
  30. Cross References
    Ezekiel 21:7
    And when they say to you, 'Why do you groan?' you shall say, 'Because of the news that it is coming. Every heart will melt, and all hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming, and it will be fulfilled,'" declares the Lord God.
  31. Cross References
    Ezekiel 17:24
    And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord ; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord ; I have spoken, and I will do it.
  32. Cross References
    Ezekiel 5:10
    Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds.
  33. Cross References
    Ezekiel 24:11
    Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, that its uncleanness may be melted in it, its corrosion consumed.
    Ezekiel 22:21 - 22
    I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it.
  34. Cross References
    Ezekiel 22:26
    Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
    Ezekiel 7:24
    I will bring the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the strong, and their holy places shall be profaned.
  35. Cross References
    Ezekiel 5:8
    Therefore thus says the Lord God : Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations.
  36. Cross References
    Ezekiel 6:7
    And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
  37. Cross References
    Ezekiel 2:1
    And he said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.
  38. Cross References
    Psalms 119:119
    All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross, therefore I love your testimonies.
    Isaiah 1:22
    Your silver has become dross, your best wine mixed with water.
    Isaiah 1:25
    I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy.
  39. Cross References
    Jeremiah 6:28
    They are all stubbornly rebellious, going about with slanders; they are bronze and iron; all of them act corruptly.
  40. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:25
    I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy.
  41. Cross References
    Ezekiel 21:31
    And I will pour out my indignation upon you; I will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of brutish men, skillful to destroy.
    Malachi 3:3
    He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.
  42. Cross References
    Jeremiah 33:5
    They are coming in to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them with the dead bodies of men whom I shall strike down in my anger and my wrath, for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil.
  43. Cross References
    Ezekiel 7:8
    Now I will soon pour out my wrath upon you, and spend my anger against you, and judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations.
  44. Cross References
    Ezekiel 22:2 - 4
    And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations.
  45. Cross References
    Ezekiel 34:26
    And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing.
    1 Kings 8:35 - 36
    When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them.
  46. Cross References
    Jeremiah 11:9
    Again the Lord said to me, "A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
  47. Cross References
    Ezekiel 19:3
    And she brought up one of her cubs; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men.
  48. Cross References
    Ezekiel 22:27
    Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.
  49. Cross References
    Malachi 2:8
    But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts.
  50. Cross References
    Zephaniah 3:4
    Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men; her priests profane what is holy; they do violence to the law.
  51. Cross References
    Ezekiel 22:8
    You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths.
  52. Cross References
    Leviticus 10:10
    You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean.
  53. Cross References
    Jeremiah 17:22
    And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.
    Jeremiah 17:24
    'But if you listen to me, declares the Lord, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it.
    Jeremiah 17:27
    But if you do not listen to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.'
  54. Cross References
    Ezekiel 36:20
    But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, 'These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.
  55. Cross References
    Ezekiel 22:6
    Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood.
    Micah 3:1 - 2
    And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice? -
    Zephaniah 3:3
    Her officials within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves that leave nothing till the morning.
    Matthew 7:15
    Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
  56. Cross References
    Ezekiel 22:25
    The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.
  57. Cross References
    Ezekiel 22:13
    Behold, I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made, and at the blood that has been in your midst.
  58. Cross References
    Ezekiel 13:10
    Precisely because they have misled my people, saying, 'Peace,' when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash.
  59. Cross References
    Ezekiel 13:6
    They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, 'Declares the Lord,' when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word.
  60. Cross References
    Ezekiel 22:7
    Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you.
  61. Cross References
    Ezekiel 22:7
    Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you.
  62. Cross References
    Isaiah 59:16
    He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him.
    Jeremiah 5:1
    Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note! Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth, that I may pardon her.
  63. Cross References
    Ezekiel 13:5
    You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the Lord.
  64. Cross References
    Ezekiel 13:5
    You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the Lord.
  65. Cross References
    Ezekiel 22:21
    I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it.
  66. Cross References
    Ezekiel 7:4
    And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but I will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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