Ezekiel:22

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* And the word of the Lord came unto me , saying , * And thou , son of man , wilt thou take to task , wilt thou take to task the city of blood ? and wilt thou make her know all her abominations ? * Then say thou , Thus hath said the Lord Eternal , O city that sheddeth blood in her midst , that her time may come , and that hath made idols for herself to become unclean : * Through thy blood which thou hast shed , are thou become guilty ; and through thy idols which thou hast made art thou become unclean ; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near , and thou art come even unto thy years ; therefore do I make thee a disgrace unto the nations , and a mocking to all the countries . * Those who are near , and those who are far from thee , shall mock thee , O thou unclean in name , and great in confusion ! * Behold , the princes of Israel were each with his arm within thee , in order to shed blood . * Father and mother they esteemed lightly within thee , toward the stranger they acted with extortion in the midst of thee , the fatherless and the widow they oppressed within thee . * My holy things thou didst despise , and my sabbaths thou didst profane . * Tale –bearers were within thee , in order to shed blood ; and upon the mountains did they eat within thee ; incest did they commit in the midst of thee . * Their father ’s nakedness they uncovered within thee ; her that was unclean in her separation did they violate within thee . * And one with his neighbor ’s wife did commit abomination ; and another did defile his daughter –in –law with incest ; and another did violate his sister , the daughter of his father , within thee . * Bribes they took within thee , in order to shed blood ; interest and increase didst thou take , and thou didst acquire gain off thy neighbors by extortion : and me thou didst forget , saith the Lord Eternal . * And behold , I have struck my hands together at thy wrongful gain which thou hast acquired , and at thy blood –guilt which hath been in the midst of thee . * Will thy courage endure , or will thy hands remain strong , on the days that I will deal with thee ? I the Lord have spoken , and will do it . * And I will scatter thee among the nations , and disperse thee in the countries , and I will entirely remove thy uncleanness out of thee . * And thou shalt be degraded through thyself before the eyes of nations , and thou shalt know that I am the Lord . * And the word of the Lord came unto me , saying , * Son of man , the house of Israel are become to me dross : they all are copper , and tin , and iron , and lead , in the midst of the furnace ; the dross of silver are they become . * Therefore thus hath said the Lord Eternal , Because ye are all become dross , therefore , behold , I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem . * As silver , and copper , and iron , and lead , and tin are gathered into the midst of the furnace , to blow the fire upon it , to melt it : so will I gather you in my anger and in my fury and I will lay you down there , and melt you . * Yea , I will assemble you in a heap , and blow upon you with the fire of my wrath , and ye shall be melted in the midst of it . * As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace , so shall ye be melted in the midst of it : and ye shall know that I am the Lord who have poured out my fury over you . * And the word of the Lord came unto me , saying , * Son of man , say unto her , Thou art a land that is not cleansed ; which is not rained upon on the day of indignation . * The banded troop of her prophets in the midst of her is like a roaring lion that teareth in pieces the prey : souls do they devour ; wealth and precious things do they take away ; the number of her widows do they increase in the midst of her . * Her priests violate my law , and profane my holy things : between the holy and profane do they make no distinction , and the difference between the unclean and the clean do they not make known , and from my sabbaths do they turn away their eyes , so that I am profaned among them . * Her princes in her midst are like wolves that tear in pieces the prey , to shed blood , to destroy souls , in order to obtain selfish gain . * And her prophets plastered for them with unadhesive mortar , foreseeing falsehood , and divining unto them lies , saying , Thus hath said the Lord Eternal ; when the Lord had not spoken . * The people of the land are guilty of extortion , and practise robbery , and the poor and the needy they defraud : and they extort from the stranger with injustice . * And I seek now among them for a man , that could erect a fence , and stand in the breach before me in behalf of the land , so that I should not destroy it ; but I find none . * And I therefore pour out over them my indignation ; with the fire of my wrath do I make an end of them : their own way do I bring upon their head , saith the Lord Eternal .

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