Ezekiel 22:1-12

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

2 And you, son of man, will you be a judge, will you be a judge of the town of blood? then make clear to her all her disgusting ways.

3 And you are to say, This is what the Lord has said: A town causing blood to be drained out in her streets so that her time may come, and making images in her to make her unclean!

4 You are responsible for the blood drained out by you, and you are unclean through the images which you have made; and you have made your day come near, and the time of your judging has come; for this cause I have made you a name of shame to the nations and a cause of laughing to all countries.

5 Those who are near and those who are far from you will make sport of you; your name is unclean, you are full of sounds of fear.

6 See, the rulers of Israel, every one in his family, have been causing death in you.

7 In you they have had no respect for father and mother; in you they have been cruel to the man from a strange land; in you they have done wrong to the child without a father and to the widow.

8 You have made little of my holy things, and have made my Sabbaths unclean.

9 In you there are men who say evil of others, causing death; in you they have taken the flesh with the blood for food; in your streets they have put evil designs into effect.

10 In you they have let the shame of their fathers be seen; in you they have done wrong to a woman at the time when she was unclean.

11 And in you one man has done what was disgusting with his neighbour's wife; and another has made his daughter-in-law unclean; and another has done wrong to his sister, his father's daughter.

12 In you they have taken rewards as the price of blood; you have taken interest and great profits, and you have taken away your neighbours' goods by force, and have not kept me in mind, says the Lord.

Ezekiel 22:1-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 22

In this chapter a catalogue or list of the sins of the Jews is given; a comparison of them to dross is made, and they are dealt with accordingly; and a complaint is lodged against all ranks and orders of men for their sins; on account of which, there being no intercessor for them, they are threatened with captivity and destruction. The prophet is ordered to judge them, and lay before them their abominable sins, Eze 22:1,2, of which a long list is given, as murder, idolatry; contempt of parents; oppression of the stranger, fatherless, and widow; negligence of holy things; profanation of the sabbath; tale bearing, lewdness and uncleanness of various sorts; bribery, usury, extortion, and dishonest gain, Eze 22:3-13 for which the Lord threatens to deal with them in a manner that would be intolerable to them; that he would carry them captive, and scatter them among the Heathen, Eze 22:14-16, they are compared to dross, and as such should be gathered into a furnace, and melted down, Eze 22:17-21, all ranks and orders of men are complained of, because of their sins, and threatened, Eze 22:23,24, the prophets for their voraciousness, rapine, murder, and lies, Eze 22:25,28, the priests, for their violation of the law, neglect of holy things, and profanation of the sabbath, Eze 22:26, the princes, for their cruelty, murder, and dishonest gain, Eze 22:27, the people of the land, for their oppression and robbery, Eze 22:29, and there being none to stand in the gap for them, the Lord threatens to pour out his wrath upon them, and consume them, Eze 22:30,31.