Ezekiel:22

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* Moreover the word of the LORD came to me , saying , * "And you , son of man , will you judge , will you judge the bloody city ? Then declare to her all her abominable deeds . * You shall say , Thus says the Lord GOD : A city that sheds blood in the midst of her , that her time may come , and that makes idols to defile herself ! * You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed , and defiled by the idols which you have made ; and you have brought your day near , the appointed time of your years has come . Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations , and a mocking to all the countries . * Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you , you infamous one , full of tumult . * "Behold , the princes of Israel in you , every one according to his power , have been bent on shedding blood . * 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 . * You have despised my holy things , and profaned my sabbaths . * There are men in you who slander to shed blood , and men in you who eat upon the mountains ; men commit lewdness in your midst . * In you men uncover their fathers ' nakedness ; in you they humble women who are unclean in their impurity . * One commits abomination with his neighbor 's wife ; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law ; another in you defiles his sister , his father 's daughter . * In you men take bribes to shed blood ; you take interest and increase and make gain of your neighbors by extortion ; and you have forgotten me , says the Lord GOD . * "Behold , therefore , I strike my hands together at the dishonest gain which you have made , and at the blood which has been in the midst of you . * Can your courage endure , or can your hands be strong , in the days that I shall deal with you ? I the LORD have spoken , and I will do it . * I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries , and I will consume your filthiness out of you . * And I shall be profaned through you in the sight of the nations ; and you shall know that I am the LORD ." * And the word of the LORD came to me : * "Son of man , the house of Israel has become dross to me ; all of them , silver and bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace , have become dross . * Therefore thus says the Lord GOD : Because you have all become dross , therefore , behold , I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem . * As men gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace , to blow the fire upon it in order to melt it ; so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath , and I will put you in and melt you . * I will gather you and blow upon you with the fire of my wrath , and you shall be melted in the midst of it . * As silver is melted in a furnace , so you shall be melted in the midst of it ; and you shall know that I the LORD have poured out my wrath upon you ." * And the word of the LORD came to me : * "Son of man , say to her , You are a land that is not cleansed , or rained upon in the day of indignation . * Her princes in the midst of her are 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 the midst of her . * 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 . * Her princes in the midst of her are like wolves tearing the prey , shedding blood , destroying lives to get dishonest gain . * And her prophets have daubed for them with whitewash , seeing false visions and divining lies for them , saying , `Thus says the Lord GOD ,' when the LORD has not spoken . * The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery ; they have oppressed the poor and needy , and have extorted from the sojourner without redress . * And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land , that I should not destroy it ; but I found none . * Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them ; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath ; their way have I requited upon their heads , says the Lord GOD ."

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