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The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, Chapter 22
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1 |
Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
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2 |
Now,thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city?
yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.
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3 |
Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city sheddeth blood
in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against
herself to defile herself.
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4 |
Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast
defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast
caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years:
therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking
to all countries.
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5 |
Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock
thee, which art infamous and much vexed.
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6 |
Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their
power to shed blood.
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In thee have they set light by 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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8 |
Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my
sabbaths.
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In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they
eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.
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10 |
In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee
have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.
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11 |
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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12 |
In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken
usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by
extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.
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13 |
Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain
which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of
thee.
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14 |
Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the
days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, and will
do it.
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15 |
And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in
the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.
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16 |
And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of
the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
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17 |
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
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Son of man,the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and
tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even
the dross of silver.
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19 |
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become
dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of
Jerusalem.
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As they gather silver, and brass, 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 leave
you there, and melt you.
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21 |
Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my
wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst therof.
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22 |
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 the LORD have
poured out my fury upon you.
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23 |
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
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Son of man,say unto her, Thou art the 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 thereof, like
a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have
taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows
in the midst thereof.
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26 |
Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy
things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane,
neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean,
and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among
them.
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27 |
Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the
prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
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And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing
vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD,
when the LORD hath not spoken.
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29 |
The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised
robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed
the stranger wrongfully.
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30 |
And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the
hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not
destroy it: but I found none.
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31 |
Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have
consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I
recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.
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