Chapter 22

  Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,  

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  Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yes, thou shalt show her all her abominations.  

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

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  Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee, who art infamous and much troubled.  

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  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 oppressed 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 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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  In thee have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.  

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  And one hath committed abomination with his neighbor'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 interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained from thy neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.  

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  Behold, therefore I have smitten my 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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  Can thy heart endure, or can thy 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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  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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  And thou shalt take thy inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.  

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  And the word of the LORD came to 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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  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 my anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you.  

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  Yes, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst of it.  

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  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 the LORD have poured out my fury upon you.  

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  And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,  

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  Son of man, say to 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 of her, 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 of her.  

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  Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shown 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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  Her princes in the midst of her 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 mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies to them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.  

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  The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have oppressed the poor and needy: yes, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.  

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  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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  Therefore have I poured out my 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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