Ezekielchapter 22

A.The bloody city and the sins done in her streetsvv. 1-16

1 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “As for you, son of man, will you judge her? Will you pass judgment on the city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her abominations 3 and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O city who brings her own doom by shedding blood within her walls and making idols to defile herself, 4 you are guilty of the blood you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close and have come to the end of your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mockery to all the lands. 5 Those near and far will mock you, O infamous city, full of turmoil. 6 See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood. 7 Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed. 8 You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths. 9 Among you are slanderous men bent on bloodshed; within you are those who eat on the mountain shrines and commit acts of indecency. 10 In you they have uncovered the nakedness of their fathers; in you they violate women during their menstrual impurity. 11 One man commits an abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter. 12 In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD. 13 Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst. 14 Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will act. 15 I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you throughout the lands; I will purge your uncleanness. 16 And when you have defiled yourself in the eyes of the nations, then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

B.Melted in the furnace like worthless drossvv. 17-22

17 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are but the dross of silver. 19 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because all of you have become dross, behold, I will gather you into Jerusalem. 20 Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to melt with a fiery blast, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, leave you there, and melt you. 21 Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted within the city. 22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted within the city. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath upon you.’”

C.Princes, priests, prophets — and no one to stand in the gapvv. 23-31

23 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 24 “Son of man, say to her, ‘In the day of indignation, you are a land that has not been cleansed, upon which no rain has fallen.’ 25 The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her. 26 Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27 Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain. 28 Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken. 29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice. 30 I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one. 31 So I have poured out My indignation upon them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their ways down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”

Commentary on this chapter: read the Exposition

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Chapter summary

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Three indictments of 'the bloody city.' First a catalog of her crimes, blood shed, fathers and mothers set light by, sojourners oppressed, the fatherless and widow wronged, sabbaths profaned, usury and extortion taken. Second, the furnace: Israel has become dross (brass, tin, iron and lead), gathered into the fire to be melted in the heat of Jehovah's wrath. Third, an audit of every class: prophets daubing with untempered mortar, priests who hide their eyes from the sabbaths, princes like wolves ravening the prey, and the people using oppression. Then the verse behind a thousand sermons on intercession: 'I sought for a man among them, that should… stand in the gap before me for the land… but I found none' (22:30).

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament.

Context

Prophecy · Ezekiel — Ezekiel overview

A. 1–16 The bloody city and the sins done in her streets
B. 17–22 Melted in the furnace like worthless dross
C. 23–31 Princes, priests, prophets — and no one to stand in the gap

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Ezekiel 228 verses
- Ezekiel 22:2“As for you, son of man, will you judge her? Will you pass judgment on the city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her abominations
- Ezekiel 22:6See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood.
- Ezekiel 22:7Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.
- Ezekiel 22:8You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths.
- Ezekiel 22:13Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst.
- Ezekiel 22:22As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted within the city. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath upon you.’”
- Read Ezekiel 22: 2 more there →
Isaiah 13 verses
- Isaiah 1:5Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.
- Isaiah 1:22Your silver has become dross; your fine wine is diluted with water.
- Isaiah 1:23Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
- Read Isaiah 1 →
Ezekiel 243 verses
- Ezekiel 24:6Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed, to the pot now rusted, whose rust will not come off! Empty it piece by piece; cast no lots for its contents.
- Ezekiel 24:9Yes, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed! I, too, will pile the kindling high.
- Ezekiel 24:14I, the LORD, have spoken; the time is coming, and I will act. I will not refrain or show pity, nor will I relent. I will judge you according to your ways and deeds,’ declares the Lord GOD.”
- Read Ezekiel 24 →
Ezekiel 203 verses
- Ezekiel 20:8But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the land of Egypt.
- Ezekiel 20:13Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and put an end to them in the wilderness.
- Ezekiel 20:33As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, with a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath I will rule over you.
- Read Ezekiel 20 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Leviticus 183 verses
- Leviticus 18:9You must not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.
- Leviticus 18:15You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; you are not to have sexual relations with her.
- Leviticus 18:19You must not approach a woman to have sexual relations with her during her menstrual period.
- Read Leviticus 18 →
Ezekiel 133 verses
- Ezekiel 13:6They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.
- Ezekiel 13:10Because they have led My people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and whitewashing any flimsy wall that is built,
- Ezekiel 13:19You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to My people who would listen, you have killed those who should not have died and spared those who should not have lived.
- Read Ezekiel 13 →
Deuteronomy 272 verses
- Deuteronomy 27:16‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Deuteronomy 27:25‘Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Read Deuteronomy 27 →
Leviticus 202 verses
- Leviticus 20:9If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood shall be upon him.
- Leviticus 20:11If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
- Read Leviticus 20 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.