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Selected Verse: Ezekiel 22:23 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Eze 22:23	Strong Concordance	And the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] came unto me, saying [0559],
	King James	And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
From this verse to the end he shows the general corruption of all ranks.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

From this verse to the end he shows the general corruption of all ranks.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
The sixth word of judgment. The special sins of princes, priests, and people. Eze 22:26 Violated - Better as in margin; to offer "violence" to the Law is to misinterpret it. It was the special office of the priests to keep up the distinction between "holy" and "unholy," "clean" and "unclean" Lev 10:10. Eze 22:28 See the marginal reference note. Eze 22:30 The land might be said to perish for the lack of such interpositions as saved their forefathers when Moses "stood in the gap." This was a proof of the general corruption, that there was not in the city sufficient righteousness to save it from utter destruction. Prince, prophet, priest, all fail.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
The corrupt state of all classes in the kingdom is the immediate cause of its destruction. - Eze 22:23. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 22:24. Son of man, say to it, Thou art a land which is not shined upon, nor rained upon in the day of anger. Eze 22:25. Conspiracy of its prophets is within it; like a roaring lion, which rends in pieces the prey, they devour souls, take possessions and money; they multiply its widows within it. Eze 22:26. Its priests violate my law and profane my holy things; they make no distinction between holy and unholy, and do not teach the difference between clean and unclean, and they hide their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Eze 22:27. Its princes in the midst of it are like wolves, which rend prey in pieces, that they may shed blood, destroy souls, to acquire gain. Eze 22:28. And its prophets plaster it with cement, seeing what is worthless, and diving lies for them, saying, "Thus saith the Lord Jehovah," when Jehovah hath not spoken. Eze 22:29. The common people offer violence and commit theft; they crush the wretched and the poor, and oppress the foreigner against right. Eze 22:30. I seek among them for a man who might build a wall and step into the breach before me on behalf of the land, that I might not destroy it, but I find none. Eze 22:31. Therefore I pour out my anger upon them; I destroy them in the fire of my wrath, I give their way upon their head, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. - To show the necessity for the predicted judgment still more clearly, in the third word of God contained in this chapter a description is given of the spread of deep corruption among all classes of the people, and the impossibility of saving the kingdom is plainly shown. The words אמר־להּ, "say unto her," are taken by most of the commentators as referring to Jerusalem, the abominations of which the prophet is commanded to declare. But although the clause, "thou art a land," etc. (Eze 22:24), could unquestionably be made to harmonize with this, yet the words of Eze 22:30, "I sought for a man who might stand in the gap before Jehovah for the land," indicate most unquestionably that this word of God is directed against the land of Judah, and consequently להּ must be taken as referring to ארץ which follows, the pronoun is this case being placed before the noun to which it refers, as in Num 24:17. Any allusion to the city of Jerusalem would therefore be somewhat out of place, inasmuch as in the preceding word of God the object referred to was not the city, but the house of Israel, or the nation generally, from which a transition is here made to the land, or the kingdom of Judah. The meaning of Eze 22:24 is a disputed question. לא מטהרה היא, which is rendered ἡ οὐ βρεχομένηin the Sept., is taken by most of the expositors to mean, "it is not cleansed," the form מטהרה being correctly rendered as a participle Pual of טהר. But this rendering does not furnish any appropriate sense, unless the following words לא גּשׁמהּ are taken as a threat: there shall not be rain, or it shall not be rained upon in the day of wrath. But this view is hardly reconcilable with the form of the word. גּשׁמהּ, according to the Masoretic pointing with Mappik in the ה, is evidently meant to be taken as a noun גּשׁם = גּשׁם. In that case, if the words were intended to contain a threat, יהיה ought not to be omitted. But without a verb the words contain a statement in harmony with what precedes. We regard the Chetib גשׁמה as the perfect Pual גּשׁמהּ. And let it not be objected to this that the Pual of this verb is not met with elsewhere, for the form of the noun גּשׁם with the u sound does not occur anywhere else. As a perfect Pual, לא גּשׁמהּ is a simple continuation of the participial clause לא מטהרה היא, containing like this an affirmation, and cannot possibly be taken as a threat or prediction. But "not cleansed" and "not rained upon" do not agree together, as rain is not a means of purification according to the Hebrew idea. It is true that in the law the withdrawal or suspension of rain is threatened as a punishment from God, and the pouring out of rain is promised as a theocratical blessing. But even if the words are taken in a tropical sense, as denoting a withdrawal of the blessings of divine grace, they will not harmonize with the other clause, "not cleansed." We therefore take מטהרה in the sense of "shined upon by the light," or provided with brightness; a meaning which is sustained by Exo 24:10, where tohar occurs in the sense of splendour, and by the kindred word tzohar, light. In this way we obtain the suitable thought, land which has neither sunlight nor rain in the day of wrath, i.e., does not enjoy a single trace of the divine blessing, but is given up to the curse of barrenness. The reason for this threat is given in Eze 22:25., where a picture is drawn of the moral corruption of all ranks; viz., of the prophets (Eze 22:25), the priests (Eze 22:26), the princes (Eze 22:27), and the common people (Eze 22:29). There is something very striking in the allusion to the prophets in Eze 22:25, not so much because they are mentioned again in Eze 22:28, - for this may be accounted for on the ground that in the latter passage they are simply introduced as false advisers of the princes, - as on account of the statement made concerning them in Eze 22:25, namely, that, like lions tearing their prey, they devour souls, etc.; a description which is not given either in Ezekiel 13 or elsewhere. Hitzig therefore proposes to alter נביאיה into נשׂיאיה, after the rendering ἀφηγούμενοι given by the lxx. This alteration of the text, which confines itself to a single letter, is rendered very plausible by the fact that almost the same is affirmed of the persons mentioned in Eze 22:25 as of the princes in Eze 22:27, and that in the passage in Zephaniah (Zep 3:3-4), which is so similar to the one before us, that Ezekiel appears to have had it in his mind, the princes (שׂריה) and the judges (שׁפטיה) are called the prophets and the priests. The נשׂיאים here would correspond to the שׂרים of Zephaniah, and the שׂרים to the שׁפטים. According to Eze 22:6, the נשׂיאים would indicate primarily the members of the royal family, possibly including the chief officers of the crown; and the שׂרים eht dna ;n (Eze 22:27) would be the heads of tribes, of families, and of fathers' houses, in whose hands the national administration of justice principally lay (cf. Exo 18:19.; Deu 1:13-18; and my Bibl. Archol. ii. 149). I therefore prefer this conjecture, or correction, to the Masoretic reading, although the latter is supported by ancient witnesses, such as the Chaldee with its rendering ספרהא, scribes, and the version of Jerome. For the statement which the verse contains is not applicable to prophets, and the best explanation given of the Masoretic text - namely, that by Michaelis, "they have made a compact with one another as to what kind of teaching they would or would not give; and in order that their authority may continue undisturbed, they persecute even to blood those who do not act with them, or obey them, but rather contradict" - does not do justice to the words, but weakens their sense. קשׁר is not a predicate to 'נב, "they are (i.e., form) a conspiracy;" but 'נב is a genitive. At the same time, there is no necessity to take קשׁר in the sense of "company," a rendering which cannot be sustained. The fact that in what follows, where the comparison to lions is introduced, the נביאים (נשׂיאים) are the subject, simply proves that in the first clause also these men actually form the prominent idea. There is no ground for supplying המּה to 'כּארי (they are like, etc.); but the simile is to be linked on to the following clause. נפשׁ אכלוּ is to be explained from the comparison to a lion, which devours the prey that it has captured in its blood, in which is the soul, or nephesh (Gen 9:4; Lev 17:11.). The thought is this: in their insatiable greed for riches they sacrifice men and put them to death, and thereby multiply the number of victims (for the fact, see Eze 19:5, Eze 19:7). What is stated in Eze 22:26 concerning the priests is simply a further expansion of Zep 3:4, where the first two clauses occur word for word; for קדשׁ in Zephaniah is really equivalent to קדשׁי, holy things and deeds. The desecration of the holy things consisted in the fact that they made no distinction between sacred and profane, clean and unclean. For the fact, compare Lev 10:10-11. Their covering their eyes from the Sabbaths showed itself in their permitting the Sabbaths to be desecrated by the people, without offering any opposition (cf. Jer 17:27). The comparison of the rulers (sārim) to ravening wolves is taken from Zep 3:3. Destroying souls to acquire gain is perfectly applicable to unjust judges, inasmuch as, according to Exo 18:21, the judges were to hate בּצע. All that is affirmed in Eze 22:28 of the conduct of the false prophets is repeated for the most part verbatim from Eze 13:10,Eze 13:9, and Eze 13:7. By להם, which points back to the three classes of men already mentioned, and not merely to the sārim, the prophets are represented as helpers of those who support the ungodly in their wicked ways, by oracles which assured them of prosperity. עם (Eze 22:29), as distinguished from the spiritual and secular rulers of the nation, signifies the common people. With reference to their sins and wickednesses, see Eze 18:7, Eze 18:12, Eze 18:18; and for the command against oppressing the poor and foreigners, compare Exo 22:20-21; Deu 24:17. - The corruption is so universal, that not a man is to be found who could enter into the gap as a righteous man, or avert the judgment of destruction by his intercession. מהם refers not merely to the prophets, who did not enter into the gap according to Eze 13:5, but to all the classes previously mentioned. At the same time, it does not follow from this, that entering into the gap by means of intercession cannot be the thing intended, as Hitzig supposes. The expression לפני בּעד הארץ clearly refers to intercession. This is apparent from the simple fact that, as Hitzig himself observes, the intercession of Abraham for Sodom (Gen 18:13.) was floating before the mind of Ezekiel, since the concluding words of the verse contain an obvious allusion to Gen 18:28. Because the Lord does not find a single righteous man, who might intercede for the land, He pours out His anger upon it, to destroy the inhabitants thereof. With reference to the fact and the separate words employed, compare Ezekiel 21:36; Eze 7:4; Eze 9:10; Eze 11:21, and Eze 16:43. It does not follow from the word ואשׁפּך, that Ezekiel "is speaking after the catastrophe" (Hitzig). For although ואשׁפּך expresses the consequence of Jehovah's seeking a righteous man and not finding one, it by no means follows from the occurrence of the preterite ולא מצאתי that ואשׁפּך is also a preterite. ואשׁפּך is simply connected with ואבקּשׁ as a consequence; and in both verbs the Vav consec. expresses the sequence of thought, and not of time. The seeking, therefore, with the result of not having found, cannot be understood in a chronological sense, i.e., as an event belonging to the past, for the simple reason that the preceding words do not record the chronological order of events. It merely depicts the existing moral condition of the people, and Eze 22:30 sums up the result of the description in the thought that there was no one to be found who could enter in the gap before God. Consequently we cannot determine from the imperfect with Vav consec. either the time of the seeking and not finding, or that of the pouring out of the wrath.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

The corrupt state of all classes in the kingdom is the immediate cause of its destruction. - Eze 22:23. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 22:24. Son of man, say to it, Thou art a land which is not shined upon, nor rained upon in the day of anger. Eze 22:25. Conspiracy of its prophets is within it; like a roaring lion, which rends in pieces the prey, they devour souls, take possessions and money; they multiply its widows within it. Eze 22:26. Its priests violate my law and profane my holy things; they make no distinction between holy and unholy, and do not teach the difference between clean and unclean, and they hide their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Eze 22:27. Its princes in the midst of it are like wolves, which rend prey in pieces, that they may shed blood, destroy souls, to acquire gain. Eze 22:28. And its prophets plaster it with cement, seeing what is worthless, and diving lies for them, saying, "Thus saith the Lord Jehovah," when Jehovah hath not spoken. Eze 22:29. The common people offer violence and commit theft; they crush the wretched and the poor, and oppress the foreigner against right. Eze 22:30. I seek among them for a man who might build a wall and step into the breach before me on behalf of the land, that I might not destroy it, but I find none. Eze 22:31. Therefore I pour out my anger upon them; I destroy them in the fire of my wrath, I give their way upon their head, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. - To show the necessity for the predicted judgment still more clearly, in the third word of God contained in this chapter a description is given of the spread of deep corruption among all classes of the people, and the impossibility of saving the kingdom is plainly shown. The words אמר־להּ, "say unto her," are taken by most of the commentators as referring to Jerusalem, the abominations of which the prophet is commanded to declare. But although the clause, "thou art a land," etc. (Eze 22:24), could unquestionably be made to harmonize with this, yet the words of Eze 22:30, "I sought for a man who might stand in the gap before Jehovah for the land," indicate most unquestionably that this word of God is directed against the land of Judah, and consequently להּ must be taken as referring to ארץ which follows, the pronoun is this case being placed before the noun to which it refers, as in Num 24:17. Any allusion to the city of Jerusalem would therefore be somewhat out of place, inasmuch as in the preceding word of God the object referred to was not the city, but the house of Israel, or the nation generally, from which a transition is here made to the land, or the kingdom of Judah. The meaning of Eze 22:24 is a disputed question. לא מטהרה היא, which is rendered ἡ οὐ βρεχομένηin the Sept., is taken by most of the expositors to mean, "it is not cleansed," the form מטהרה being correctly rendered as a participle Pual of טהר. But this rendering does not furnish any appropriate sense, unless the following words לא גּשׁמהּ are taken as a threat: there shall not be rain, or it shall not be rained upon in the day of wrath. But this view is hardly reconcilable with the form of the word. גּשׁמהּ, according to the Masoretic pointing with Mappik in the ה, is evidently meant to be taken as a noun גּשׁם = גּשׁם. In that case, if the words were intended to contain a threat, יהיה ought not to be omitted. But without a verb the words contain a statement in harmony with what precedes. We regard the Chetib גשׁמה as the perfect Pual גּשׁמהּ. And let it not be objected to this that the Pual of this verb is not met with elsewhere, for the form of the noun גּשׁם with the u sound does not occur anywhere else. As a perfect Pual, לא גּשׁמהּ is a simple continuation of the participial clause לא מטהרה היא, containing like this an affirmation, and cannot possibly be taken as a threat or prediction. But "not cleansed" and "not rained upon" do not agree together, as rain is not a means of purification according to the Hebrew idea. It is true that in the law the withdrawal or suspension of rain is threatened as a punishment from God, and the pouring out of rain is promised as a theocratical blessing. But even if the words are taken in a tropical sense, as denoting a withdrawal of the blessings of divine grace, they will not harmonize with the other clause, "not cleansed." We therefore take מטהרה in the sense of "shined upon by the light," or provided with brightness; a meaning which is sustained by Exo 24:10, where tohar occurs in the sense of splendour, and by the kindred word tzohar, light. In this way we obtain the suitable thought, land which has neither sunlight nor rain in the day of wrath, i.e., does not enjoy a single trace of the divine blessing, but is given up to the curse of barrenness.

The reason for this threat is given in Eze 22:25., where a picture is drawn of the moral corruption of all ranks; viz., of the prophets (Eze 22:25), the priests (Eze 22:26), the princes (Eze 22:27), and the common people (Eze 22:29). There is something very striking in the allusion to the prophets in Eze 22:25, not so much because they are mentioned again in Eze 22:28, - for this may be accounted for on the ground that in the latter passage they are simply introduced as false advisers of the princes, - as on account of the statement made concerning them in Eze 22:25, namely, that, like lions tearing their prey, they devour souls, etc.; a description which is not given either in Ezekiel 13 or elsewhere. Hitzig therefore proposes to alter נביאיה into נשׂיאיה, after the rendering ἀφηγούμενοι given by the lxx. This alteration of the text, which confines itself to a single letter, is rendered very plausible by the fact that almost the same is affirmed of the persons mentioned in Eze 22:25 as of the princes in Eze 22:27, and that in the passage in Zephaniah (Zep 3:3-4), which is so similar to the one before us, that Ezekiel appears to have had it in his mind, the princes (שׂריה) and the judges (שׁפטיה) are called the prophets and the priests. The נשׂיאים here would correspond to the שׂרים of Zephaniah, and the שׂרים to the שׁפטים. According to Eze 22:6, the נשׂיאים would indicate primarily the members of the royal family, possibly including the chief officers of the crown; and the שׂרים eht dna ;n (Eze 22:27) would be the heads of tribes, of families, and of fathers' houses, in whose hands the national administration of justice principally lay (cf. Exo 18:19.; Deu 1:13-18; and my Bibl. Archol. ii. 149). I therefore prefer this conjecture, or correction, to the Masoretic reading, although the latter is supported by ancient witnesses, such as the Chaldee with its rendering ספרהא, scribes, and the version of Jerome. For the statement which the verse contains is not applicable to prophets, and the best explanation given of the Masoretic text - namely, that by Michaelis, "they have made a compact with one another as to what kind of teaching they would or would not give; and in order that their authority may continue undisturbed, they persecute even to blood those who do not act with them, or obey them, but rather contradict" - does not do justice to the words, but weakens their sense. קשׁר is not a predicate to 'נב, "they are (i.e., form) a conspiracy;" but 'נב is a genitive. At the same time, there is no necessity to take קשׁר in the sense of "company," a rendering which cannot be sustained. The fact that in what follows, where the comparison to lions is introduced, the נביאים (נשׂיאים) are the subject, simply proves that in the first clause also these men actually form the prominent idea. There is no ground for supplying המּה to 'כּארי (they are like, etc.); but the simile is to be linked on to the following clause. נפשׁ אכלוּ is to be explained from the comparison to a lion, which devours the prey that it has captured in its blood, in which is the soul, or nephesh (Gen 9:4; Lev 17:11.). The thought is this: in their insatiable greed for riches they sacrifice men and put them to death, and thereby multiply the number of victims (for the fact, see Eze 19:5, Eze 19:7). What is stated in Eze 22:26 concerning the priests is simply a further expansion of Zep 3:4, where the first two clauses occur word for word; for קדשׁ in Zephaniah is really equivalent to קדשׁי, holy things and deeds. The desecration of the holy things consisted in the fact that they made no distinction between sacred and profane, clean and unclean. For the fact, compare Lev 10:10-11. Their covering their eyes from the Sabbaths showed itself in their permitting the Sabbaths to be desecrated by the people, without offering any opposition (cf. Jer 17:27).

The comparison of the rulers (sārim) to ravening wolves is taken from Zep 3:3. Destroying souls to acquire gain is perfectly applicable to unjust judges, inasmuch as, according to Exo 18:21, the judges were to hate בּצע. All that is affirmed in Eze 22:28 of the conduct of the false prophets is repeated for the most part verbatim from Eze 13:10,Eze 13:9, and Eze 13:7. By להם, which points back to the three classes of men already mentioned, and not merely to the sārim, the prophets are represented as helpers of those who support the ungodly in their wicked ways, by oracles which assured them of prosperity. עם (Eze 22:29), as distinguished from the spiritual and secular rulers of the nation, signifies the common people. With reference to their sins and wickednesses, see Eze 18:7, Eze 18:12, Eze 18:18; and for the command against oppressing the poor and foreigners, compare Exo 22:20-21; Deu 24:17. - The corruption is so universal, that not a man is to be found who could enter into the gap as a righteous man, or avert the judgment of destruction by his intercession. מהם refers not merely to the prophets, who did not enter into the gap according to Eze 13:5, but to all the classes previously mentioned. At the same time, it does not follow from this, that entering into the gap by means of intercession cannot be the thing intended, as Hitzig supposes. The expression לפני בּעד הארץ clearly refers to intercession. This is apparent from the simple fact that, as Hitzig himself observes, the intercession of Abraham for Sodom (Gen 18:13.) was floating before the mind of Ezekiel, since the concluding words of the verse contain an obvious allusion to Gen 18:28. Because the Lord does not find a single righteous man, who might intercede for the land, He pours out His anger upon it, to destroy the inhabitants thereof. With reference to the fact and the separate words employed, compare Ezekiel 21:36; Eze 7:4; Eze 9:10; Eze 11:21, and Eze 16:43. It does not follow from the word ואשׁפּך, that Ezekiel "is speaking after the catastrophe" (Hitzig). For although ואשׁפּך expresses the consequence of Jehovah's seeking a righteous man and not finding one, it by no means follows from the occurrence of the preterite ולא מצאתי that ואשׁפּך is also a preterite. ואשׁפּך is simply connected with ואבקּשׁ as a consequence; and in both verbs the Vav consec. expresses the sequence of thought, and not of time. The seeking, therefore, with the result of not having found, cannot be understood in a chronological sense, i.e., as an event belonging to the past, for the simple reason that the preceding words do not record the chronological order of events. It merely depicts the existing moral condition of the people, and Eze 22:30 sums up the result of the description in the thought that there was no one to be found who could enter in the gap before God. Consequently we cannot determine from the imperfect with Vav consec. either the time of the seeking and not finding, or that of the pouring out of the wrath.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Her - The land of Israel. Not cleansed - Though God's judgments have been as violent floods; and as hottest fires. Nor rained upon - Yet neither thy filth hath been carried away, nor thy dross melted out of thee. Therefore thou shalt be deprived of the rain, that should cool thy thirsty land.

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³⁰ And I sought [01245] for a man [0376] among them, that should make up [01443] the hedge [01447], and stand [05975] in the gap [06556] before [06440] me for the land [0776], that I should not destroy [07843] it: but I found [04672] none.

²⁸ And her prophets [05030] have daubed [02902] them with untempered [08602] morter, seeing [02374] vanity [07723], and divining [07080] lies [03577] unto them, saying [0559], Thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069], when the LORD [03068] hath not spoken [01696].

¹⁰ And that ye may put difference [0914] between holy [06944] and unholy [02455], and between unclean [02931] and clean [02889];

²⁶ Her priests [03548] have violated [02554] my law [08451], and have profaned [02490] mine holy things [06944]: they have put no difference [0914] between the holy [06944] and profane [02455], neither have they shewed [03045] difference between the unclean [02931] and the clean [02889], and have hid [05956] their eyes [05869] from my sabbaths [07676], and I am profaned [02490] among [08432] them.

⁴³ Because thou hast not remembered [02142] the days [03117] of thy youth [05271], but hast fretted [07264] me in all these things; behold [01887], therefore I also will recompense [05414] thy way [01870] upon thine head [07218], saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]: and thou shalt not commit [06213] this lewdness [02154] above all thine abominations [08441].

²¹ But as for them whose heart [03820] walketh [01980] after the heart [03820] of their detestable things [08251] and their abominations [08441], I will recompense [05414] their way [01870] upon their own heads [07218], saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069].

¹⁰ And as for me also, mine eye [05869] shall not spare [02347], neither will I have pity [02550], but I will recompense [05414] their way [01870] upon their head [07218].

⁴ And mine eye [05869] shall not spare [02347] thee, neither will I have pity [02550]: but I will recompense [05414] thy ways [01870] upon thee, and thine abominations [08441] shall be in the midst [08432] of thee: and ye shall know [03045] that I am the LORD [03068].

²⁸ Peradventure there shall lack [02637] five [02568] of the fifty [02572] righteous [06662]: wilt thou destroy [07843] all the city [05892] for lack of five [02568]? And he said [0559], If I find [04672] there forty [0705] and five [02568], I will not destroy [07843] it.

¹³ And the LORD [03068] said [0559] unto Abraham [085], Wherefore [04100] did Sarah [08283] laugh [06711], saying [0559], Shall I of a surety [0552] bear [03205] a child, which [0589] am old [02204]?

⁵ Ye have not gone up [05927] into the gaps [06556], neither made up [01443] the hedge [01447] for the house [01004] of Israel [03478] to stand [05975] in the battle [04421] in the day [03117] of the LORD [03068].

¹⁷ Thou shalt not pervert [05186] the judgment [04941] of the stranger [01616], nor of the fatherless [03490]; nor take [02254] a widow's [0490] raiment [0899] to pledge [02254]:

²⁰ He that sacrificeth [02076] unto any god [0430], save [01115] unto the LORD [03068] only, he shall be utterly destroyed [02763].
²¹ Thou shalt neither vex [03238] a stranger [01616], nor oppress [03905] him: for ye were strangers [01616] in the land [0776] of Egypt [04714].

¹⁸ As for his father [01], because he cruelly [06233] oppressed [06231], spoiled [01497] his brother [0251] by violence [01499], and did [06213] that which is not good [02896] among [08432] his people [05971], lo, even he shall die [04191] in his iniquity [05771].

¹² Hath oppressed [03238] the poor [06041] and needy [034], hath spoiled [01497] by violence [01500], hath not restored [07725] the pledge [02258], and hath lifted up [05375] his eyes [05869] to the idols [01544], hath committed [06213] abomination [08441],

⁷ And hath not oppressed [03238] any [0376], but hath restored [07725] to the debtor [02326] his pledge [02258], hath spoiled [01497] none by violence [01500], hath given [05414] his bread [03899] to the hungry [07457], and hath covered [03680] the naked [05903] with a garment [0899];

²⁹ The people [05971] of the land [0776] have used oppression [06231] [06233], and exercised [01497] robbery [01498], and have vexed [03238] the poor [06041] and needy [034]: yea, they have oppressed [06231] the stranger [01616] wrongfully [04941].

⁷ Have ye not seen [02372] a vain [07723] vision [04236], and have ye not spoken [01696] a lying [03577] divination [04738], whereas ye say [0559], The LORD [03068] saith [05002] it; albeit I have not spoken [0559]?

⁹ And mine hand [03027] shall be upon the prophets [05030] that see [02374] vanity [07723], and that divine [07080] lies [03577]: they shall not be in the assembly [05475] of my people [05971], neither shall they be written [03789] in the writing [03791] of the house [01004] of Israel [03478], neither shall they enter [0935] into the land [0127] of Israel [03478]; and ye shall know [03045] that I am the Lord [0136] GOD [03069].

¹⁰ Because, even because they have seduced [02937] my people [05971], saying [0559], Peace [07965]; and there was no peace [07965]; and one built up [01129] a wall [02434], and, lo [02009], others daubed [02902] it with untempered [08602] morter:

²¹ Moreover thou shalt provide [02372] out of all the people [05971] able [02428] men [0582], such as fear [03373] God [0430], men [0582] of truth [0571], hating [08130] covetousness [01215]; and place [07760] such over them, to be rulers [08269] of thousands [0505], and rulers [08269] of hundreds [03967], rulers [08269] of fifties [02572], and rulers [08269] of tens [06235]:

³ Her princes [08269] within [07130] her are roaring [07580] lions [0738]; her judges [08199] are evening [06153] wolves [02061]; they gnaw not the bones [01633] till the morrow [01242].

²⁷ But if ye will not hearken [08085] unto me to hallow [06942] the sabbath [07676] day [03117], and not to bear [05375] a burden [04853], even entering in [0935] at the gates [08179] of Jerusalem [03389] on the sabbath [07676] day [03117]; then will I kindle [03341] a fire [0784] in the gates [08179] thereof, and it shall devour [0398] the palaces [0759] of Jerusalem [03389], and it shall not be quenched [03518].

¹⁰ And that ye may put difference [0914] between holy [06944] and unholy [02455], and between unclean [02931] and clean [02889];
¹¹ And that ye may teach [03384] the children [01121] of Israel [03478] all the statutes [02706] which the LORD [03068] hath spoken [01696] unto them by the hand [03027] of Moses [04872].

⁴ Her prophets [05030] are light [06348] and treacherous [0900] persons [0582]: her priests [03548] have polluted [02490] the sanctuary [06944], they have done violence [02554] to the law [08451].

⁷ And he knew [03045] their desolate palaces [0490], and he laid waste [02717] their cities [05892]; and the land [0776] was desolate [03456], and the fulness [04393] thereof, by the noise [06963] of his roaring [07581].

⁵ Now when she saw [07200] that she had waited [03176], and her hope [08615] was lost [06], then she took [03947] another [0259] of her whelps [01482], and made [07760] him a young lion [03715].

¹¹ For the life [05315] of the flesh [01320] is in the blood [01818]: and I have given [05414] it to you upon the altar [04196] to make an atonement [03722] for your souls [05315]: for it is the blood [01818] that maketh an atonement [03722] for the soul [05315].

⁴ But [0389] flesh [01320] with the life [05315] thereof, which is the blood [01818] thereof, shall ye not eat [0398].

¹³ Take [03051] you wise [02450] men [0582], and understanding [0995], and known [03045] among your tribes [07626], and I will make [07760] them rulers [07218] over you.
¹⁴ And ye answered [06030] me, and said [0559], The thing [01697] which thou hast spoken [01696] is good [02896] for us to do [06213].
¹⁵ So I took [03947] the chief [07218] of your tribes [07626], wise [02450] men [0582], and known [03045], and made [05414] them heads [07218] over you, captains [08269] over thousands [0505], and captains [08269] over hundreds [03967], and captains [08269] over fifties [02572], and captains [08269] over tens [06235], and officers [07860] among your tribes [07626].
¹⁶ And I charged [06680] your judges [08199] at that time [06256], saying [0559], Hear [08085] the causes between your brethren [0251], and judge [08199] righteously [06664] between every man [0376] and his brother [0251], and the stranger [01616] that is with him.
¹⁷ Ye shall not respect [05234] persons [06440] in judgment [04941]; but ye shall hear [08085] the small [06996] as well as the great [01419]; ye shall not be afraid [01481] of the face [06440] of man [0376]; for the judgment [04941] is God's [0430]: and the cause [01697] that is too hard [07185] for you, bring [07126] it unto me, and I will hear [08085] it.
¹⁸ And I commanded [06680] you at that time [06256] all the things [01697] which ye should do [06213].

¹⁹ Hearken [08085] now unto my voice [06963], I will give thee counsel [03289], and God [0430] shall be [01961] with thee: Be thou for the people [05971] to God-ward [04136] [0430], that thou mayest bring [0935] the causes [01697] unto God [0430]:

²⁷ Her princes [08269] in the midst [07130] thereof are like wolves [02061] ravening [02963] the prey [02964], to shed [08210] blood [01818], and to destroy [06] souls [05315], to get [01214] dishonest gain [01215].

⁶ Behold, the princes [05387] of Israel [03478], every one [0376] were in thee to their power [02220] to shed [08210] blood [01818].

³ Her princes [08269] within [07130] her are roaring [07580] lions [0738]; her judges [08199] are evening [06153] wolves [02061]; they gnaw not the bones [01633] till the morrow [01242].
⁴ Her prophets [05030] are light [06348] and treacherous [0900] persons [0582]: her priests [03548] have polluted [02490] the sanctuary [06944], they have done violence [02554] to the law [08451].

²⁵ There is a conspiracy [07195] of her prophets [05030] in the midst [08432] thereof, like a roaring [07580] lion [0738] ravening [02963] the prey [02964]; they have devoured [0398] souls [05315]; they have taken [03947] the treasure [02633] and precious things [03366]; they have made her many [07235] widows [0490] in the midst [08432] thereof.

¹⁰ And they saw [07200] the God [0430] of Israel [03478]: and there was under his feet [07272] as it were a paved [03840] work [04639] of a sapphire stone [05601], and as it were the body [06106] of heaven [08064] in his clearness [02892].

²⁴ Son [01121] of man [0120], say [0559] unto her, Thou art the land [0776] that is not cleansed [02891], nor rained [01656] upon in the day [03117] of indignation [02195].

¹⁷ I shall see [07200] him, but not now: I shall behold [07789] him, but not nigh [07138]: there shall come [01869] a Star [03556] out of Jacob [03290], and a Sceptre [07626] shall rise [06965] out of Israel [03478], and shall smite [04272] the corners [06285] of Moab [04124], and destroy [06979] all the children [01121] of Sheth [08352] [08351].

²⁴ Son [01121] of man [0120], say [0559] unto her, Thou art the land [0776] that is not cleansed [02891], nor rained [01656] upon in the day [03117] of indignation [02195].

³¹ Therefore have I poured out [08210] mine indignation [02195] upon them; I have consumed [03615] them with the fire [0784] of my wrath [05678]: their own way [01870] have I recompensed [05414] upon their heads [07218], saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069].

²⁴ Son [01121] of man [0120], say [0559] unto her, Thou art the land [0776] that is not cleansed [02891], nor rained [01656] upon in the day [03117] of indignation [02195].

²³ And the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] came unto me, saying [0559],