Ezekiel 22:5-15

5 that be nigh thee, and that be far from thee; thou foul city, noble, great in perishing, they shall have victory of thee (they shall have the victory over thee).

6 Lo! [the] princes of Israel, all in their arm, were in thee, to shed out blood. (Lo! the leaders of Israel, all in their power, were in thee, to shed out blood.)

7 They punished with wrongs [the] father and (the) mother in thee, they challenged falsely a comeling in the midst of thee, they made sorry a fatherless child, and a widow at thee. (They treated wrongfully the father and the mother there with thee, they oppressed a newcomer in the midst of thee, they made sorrowful a fatherless child, and a widow there with thee.)

8 Ye despised my saintuaries, and ye defouled my sabbaths. (Ye despised my sanctuaries, and ye defiled my sabbaths.)

9 Men backbiters were in thee, to shed out blood, and eat on hills in thee (and to eat on thy hills); they wrought great trespass in the midst of thee.

10 They uncovered the shamefuller things of the father[s] in thee, they made low in thee the uncleanness of a woman in unclean blood.

11 And each man wrought abomination against the wife of his neighbour, and the father of the husband defouled his son's wife unleavefully; a brother oppressed in thee his sister, the daughter of his father. (And each man did abomination with his neighbour's wife, and the father of the husband lewdly defiled his son's wife; a brother in thee oppressed his sister, his father's daughter.)

12 They took gifts of thee, to shed out blood; thou tookest usury and overabundance, and thou challengedest greedily thy neighbours, and thou hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God. (They took gifts, or bribes, in thee to shed out blood; thou hast taken usury and overabundance, and thou hast oppressed thy neighbours for greed, and thou hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God.)

13 Lo! I have smitten together mine hands on thine avarice, [or greediness,] which thou didest, and on the blood which is shed out in the midst of thee. (Lo! I have struck my fist into my hand over thy greediness, and over the blood which is shed out in thy midst.)

14 Whether thine heart shall sustain, either thine hands shall have power, in the days which I shall make to thee? For I the Lord spake, and I shall do. (Shall thy heart be able to sustain thee, or shall thy hands have any power left, in the days when I shall deal with thee? For I the Lord spoke, and I shall do it.)

15 And I shall scatter thee into (the) nations, and I shall winnow, [or blow,] thee into (other) lands; and I shall make thine uncleanness to fail from thee,

Ezekiel 22:5-15 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.