World English Bible · Babylon and the exile
Ezekiel 22
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1Moreover word came to me, saying, "You, , will you judge? Will you judge the bloody city? Then cause her to know all her . You shall say, ' says: "A city that sheds within herself, that her time may come, and that makes idols against herself to defile her! You have become guilty in your that you have shed, and are defiled in your idols which you have made! You have caused your days to draw near, and have come to the end of your years. Therefore I have made you a to the nations, and a mocking to all the countries. Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you infamous one, full of tumult. "'"Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his , have been in you to shed . In you have they treated and mother with contempt. Among you they have oppressed the . In you they have wronged and the . You have despised my things, and have profaned my . Slanderous men have been in you to shed . In you they have eaten on the mountains. They have committed lewdness among you. In you have they uncovered their fathers' . In you have they humbled her who was in her impurity. One has committed with his neighbor's wife, and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law. Another in you has humbled his sister, his daughter. In you have they taken bribes to shed . You have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by , and have forgotten me," . "'"Behold, therefore I have struck my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at which has been shed within you. Can , or can your hands be strong, in the days that I will deal with you? I, , have spoken it, and will do it. I will scatter you among the nations, and disperse you through the countries. I will purge your filthiness out of you. You will be profaned in yourself in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am ."'" 17 word came to me, saying, ", the has become dross to me. All of them are bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the middle of the furnace. They are the dross of silver. Therefore says: 'Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the middle of . As they gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the middle of the furnace, to blow the on it, to melt it, so I will gather you in my and in my , and I will lay you there and melt you. Yes, I will gather you, and blow on you with the of my , and you will be melted in the middle of it. As silver is melted in the middle of the furnace, so you will be melted in the middle of it; and you will know that I, , have poured out my on you.'" 23 word came to me, saying, ", tell her, 'You are a land that is not cleansed nor rained on in the day of .' There is a conspiracy of her within it, like a roaring lion ravening the prey. They have devoured . They take and precious things. They have made many within it. Her priests have done to and have profaned my things. They have made no distinction between the and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the and the clean, and have hidden their eyes from my . So I am profaned among them. Her princes within it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed and to destroy , that they may get dishonest gain. Her have plastered for them with whitewash, seeing false , and divining lies to them, saying, ' says,' when has not spoken. The people of the land have used and exercised robbery. Yes, they have troubled and needy, and have oppressed the wrongfully. "I sought for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. Therefore I have poured out my on them. I have consumed them with the of my . I have brought their own way on their heads," .
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Babylon and the exile, 612 BC to 539 BC ›
Babylon replaces Assyria, Jerusalem and its temple are destroyed in 586 BC, and the leadership of Judah lives in Mesopotamia without a king, a temple, or a country.
- Babylon
- Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilds the city on a scale meant to be seen from a distance: the Ishtar Gate in glazed blue brick, the processional way, the ziggurat, and gardens later counted among the wonders of the world. Babylonian tablets record rations issued to the captive king Jehoiachin of Judah by name, which is one of the tidier points of contact between the Bible and the archives.
- Egypt
- Briefly resurgent. Pharaoh Neco marches north, kills King Josiah at Megiddo, and installs and deposes kings in Jerusalem, until Babylon beats him decisively at Carchemish in 605 BC. Jeremiah spends his career saying that betting on Egypt is suicide, and is proved right.
- Judah
- Deported in stages, then destroyed. The temple is burned, the walls broken, and the leadership marched to Mesopotamia. What happens next is one of the strangest survivals in history: a people keeps its identity without land, king, or sanctuary, and comes out of it with its scriptures more central than before.
- Further afield
- An extraordinary century for ideas everywhere at once. Thales and the first Greek philosophers, Solon's reforms at Athens, the Buddha in India, Confucius and Lao Tzu in China, and Zoroaster in Persia all fall within a few generations of the exile.
All of Ezekiel