Chapter 22

  And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,  

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  And thou, son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? Yea, cause her to know all her abominations,  

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  and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A city that sheddeth blood in her midst, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself.  

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  Thou art become guilty by thy blood which thou hast shed, and hast defiled thyself with thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the nations, and a mocking unto all countries.  

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  Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee, who art infamous [and] full of tumult.  

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  Behold, the princes of Israel have been in thee to shed blood, each according to his power.  

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  In thee have they made light of father and mother; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger; in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.  

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  Thou hast despised my holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.  

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  In thee there have been slanderous men to shed blood; and in thee have they eaten upon the mountains; in the midst of thee they have committed lewdness;  

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  in thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness; in thee have they humbled her that was unclean in her separation.  

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  And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.  

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  In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast overreached thy neighbours by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord Jehovah.  

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  And behold, I have smitten mine hand at thine overreaching which thou hast done, and at thy bloodshed which hath been in the midst of thee.  

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  Shall thy heart endure, shall thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I Jehovah have spoken, and will do [it].  

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  And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee through the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.  

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  And thou shalt be polluted through thyself in the sight of the nations, and thou shalt know that I [am] Jehovah.  

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  And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,  

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  Son of man, the house of Israel is become dross to me: they are all copper, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace: they are become the dross of silver.  

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  Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye are all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.  

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  [As] they gather silver, and copper, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it, so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will lay you on and melt you.  

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  Yea, I will collect you, and blow upon you the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.  

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  As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I Jehovah have poured out my fury upon you.  

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  And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,  

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  Son of man, say unto her, Thou art a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.  

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  There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst of her like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they devour souls; they take away treasure and precious things; they increase her widows in the midst of her;  

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  her priests do violence to my law, and profane my holy things: they put no difference between the holy and profane, neither do they make known [the difference] between the unclean and the clean, and they hide their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.  

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  Her princes in the midst of her are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.  

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  And her prophets have daubed for them with untempered [mortar], seeing vanity and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah! and Jehovah hath not spoken.  

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  The people of the land use oppression and practise robbery; and they vex the poor and needy, and oppress the stranger wrongfully.  

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  And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the fence, and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.  

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  And I will pour out mine indignation upon them; I will consume them in the fire of my wrath: their own way will I recompense upon their head, saith the Lord Jehovah.  

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