Ezekiel 22:12
in Ezekiel 22In 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
In thee have they taken bribes to shed blood; thou hast taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord Jehovah.
KJV
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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This verse in Ezekiel 22
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThose that pervert their ways forget the Lord their God, Jer. iii. He is to pass sentence upon Jerusalem for these crimes. Let her know that she has filled up the measure of her iniquity, and that her sins are such as forbid delays and call for speedy vengeance.
This site's exposition
the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood
on Ezekiel 22:6-12
The list runs through every rank and relation the covenant law protected, princes who use their power to shed blood, contempt shown to father and mother, oppression of the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, profaned sabbaths, and a run of sexual sins named plainly, incest with a father's wife, a daughter in law, a sister. Wesley reads the list as a point by point breach of the commandments and the case law built on them, no single command left unbroken by the time the catalogue ends. Gill notes the closing count, usury and extortion practiced on neighbours, and hast forgotten me, ties every social sin back to the same forgetting the two sisters of chapter 23 will name again.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 22, Verses 1 onwards) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: And you, son of man, do you not judge the city of blood, and show her all her abominations? And say: Thus says the Lord God: The city that sheds blood within herself, so that her time may come, and that has made idols against herself to defile herself. In your blood that was shed, you have sinned, and you have defiled yourself with your idols that you have made.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
); not only there are those in thee that do it, but thou hast done it." It was an act of the city or community; the public money, which should have been employed in public charity, was put out to usury, with extortion.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood.....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
I clapped My hands together I cried out, “Woe!” and lamentation.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שֹׁ֥חַד | shochad | a bribe | H7810 → | |
| לָֽקְחוּ־ | lakechu- | they have taken | H3947 → | 966 times |
| בָ֖ךְ | vakh | in you | ||
| לְמַ֣עַן | lemaan | so as | H4616 → | 272 times |
| שְׁפָךְ־ | shefokh- | to shed | H8210 → | 114 times |
| דָּ֑ם | dam | blood | H1818 → | 360 times |
| נֶ֧שֶׁךְ | neshekh | interest | H5392 → | 12 times |
| וְתַרְבִּ֣ית | vetarbit | and interest | H8636 → | 6 times |
| לָקַ֗חַתְּ | lakachat | you have taken | H3947 → | 966 times |
| וַתְּבַצְּעִ֤י | vatevatzei | and you have made unjust gain | H1214 → | |
| רֵעַ֙יִךְ֙ | reayikh | neighbor your | H7453 → | 188 times |
| בַּעֹ֔שֶׁק | baoshek | by <the> oppression | H6233 → | 15 times |
| וְאֹתִ֣י | veoti | and <obj.> me | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שָׁכַ֔חַתְּ | shakhachat | you have forgotten | H7911 → | |
| נְאֻ֖ם | neum | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֥י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
שֹׁ֥חַדa bribe
shochadH7810 →
לָֽקְחוּ־they have taken
lakechu-H3947 →966 times
בָ֖ךְin you
vakh
לְמַ֣עַןso as
lemaanH4616 →272 times
שְׁפָךְ־to shed
shefokh-H8210 →114 times
דָּ֑םblood
damH1818 →360 times
נֶ֧שֶׁךְinterest
neshekhH5392 →12 times
וְתַרְבִּ֣יתand interest
vetarbitH8636 →6 times
לָקַ֗חַתְּyou have taken
lakachatH3947 →966 times
וַתְּבַצְּעִ֤יand you have made unjust gain
vatevatzeiH1214 →
רֵעַ֙יִךְ֙neighbor your
reayikhH7453 →188 times
בַּעֹ֔שֶׁקby <the> oppression
baoshekH6233 →15 times
וְאֹתִ֣יand <obj.> me
veotiH853 →10935 times
שָׁכַ֔חַתְּyou have forgotten
shakhachatH7911 →
נְאֻ֖ם[the] utterance of
neumH5002 →376 times
אֲדֹנָ֥י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 2:32Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 3:21
A voice is heard on the barren heights, the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy, because they have perverted their ways and forgotten the LORD their God.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 106:21
They forgot God their Savior, who did great things in Egypt,
- Jeremiah 13:25
This is your lot, the portion I have measured to you,” declares the LORD, “because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood.
- Jeremiah 2:11
Has a nation ever changed its gods, though they are no gods at all? Yet My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.
- Jeremiah 3:21
Through
Ezekiel 23:35Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have forgotten Me and have cast Me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your indecency and prostitution.’”
it leads to
- Isaiah 17:10
For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines—
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 14:9
You have done more evil than all who came before you. You have proceeded to make for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me, and you have flung Me behind your back.
- Jeremiah 32:33
They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.
- Isaiah 17:10
Through
Deuteronomy 27:25‘Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
it leads to
- Psalms 15:5
who lends his money without interest and refuses a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.
- Psalms 15:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.