Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 361
21:29–22:12
E ze k iel
349
It is polished to destroy,
flashing like lightning!
Your prophets have given false visions,
and your fortune-tellers have told lies.
The sword will fall on the necks of the wicked
for whom the day of final reckoning has come.
“Now return the sword to its sheath,
for in your own country,
the land of your birth,
I will pass judgment upon you.
I will pour out my fury on you
and blow on you with the fire of my anger.
I will hand you over to cruel men
who are skilled in destruction.
You will be fuel for the fire,
and your blood will be spilled in your own land.
You will be utterly wiped out,
your memory lost to history,
for I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Now this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, are you ready
to judge Jerusalem? Are you ready to judge this city of murderers? Publicly
denounce her detestable sins, and give her this message from the Sov
ereign Lord: O city of murderers, doomed and damned—city of idols,
filthy and foul—you are guilty because of the blood you have shed. You
are defiled because of the idols you have made. Your day of destruction has
come! You have reached the end of your years. I will make you an object
of mockery throughout the world. O infamous city, filled with confusion,
you will be mocked by people far and near.
“Every leader in Israel who lives within your walls is bent on murder. Fa
thers and mothers are treated with contempt. Foreigners are forced to pay
for protection. Orphans and widows are wronged and oppressed among
you. You despise my holy things and violate my Sabbath days of rest.
People accuse others falsely and send them to their death. You are filled
with idol worshipers and people who do obscene things. Men sleep with
their fathers’ wives and force themselves on women who are menstruating.
Within your walls live men who commit adultery with their neighbors’
wives, who defile their daughters-in-law, or who rape their own sisters.
There are hired murderers, loan racketeers, and extortioners everywhere.
They never even think of me and my commands, says the Sovereign Lord.
