23 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying: 24 'Son of man, say to it, Thou 'art' a land, It 'is' not cleansed nor rained on in a day of indignation. 25 A conspiracy of its prophets 'is' in its midst, as a roaring lion tearing prey; The soul they have devoured, Wealth and glory they have taken, Its widows have multiplied in its midst. 26 Its priests have wronged My law, And they pollute My holy things, Between holy and common they have not made separation, And between the unclean and the clean they have not made known, And from my sabbaths they have hidden their eyes, And I am pierced in their midst. 27 Its princes in its midst 'are' as wolves, Tearing prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, For the sake of gaining dishonest gain. 28 And its prophets have daubed for them with chalk, Seeing a vain thing, and divining for them a lie, Saying, 'Thus said the Lord Jehovah:' And Jehovah hath not spoken. 29 The people of the land have used oppression, And have taken plunder violently away, And humble and needy have oppressed, And the sojourner oppressed—without judgment. 30 And I seek of them a man making a fence, And standing in the breach before Me, In behalf of the land—not to destroy it, And I have not found. 31 And I pour out on them mine indignation, By fire of My wrath I have consumed them, Their way on their own head I have put, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 22:23-31
Commentary on Ezekiel 22:23-31
(Read Ezekiel 22:23-31)
All orders and degrees of men had helped to fill the measure of the nation's guilt. The people that had any power abused it, and even the buyers and sellers find some way to oppress one another. It bodes ill to a people when judgments are breaking in upon them, and the spirit of prayer is restrained. Let all who fear God, unite to promote his truth and righteousness; as wicked men of every rank and profession plot together to run them down.