“As for you, son of man, will you judge her? Will you pass judgment on the city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her abominations
Parallel translations
- WEB “You, son of man, will you judge? Will you judge the bloody city? Then cause her to know all her abominations.
- KJV Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.
- NKJV “Now, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Yes, show her all her abominations!
- NASB “And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then inform her of all her abominations.
- NLT “Son of man, are you ready to judge Jerusalem? Are you ready to judge this city of murderers? Publicly denounce her detestable sins,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God asks Ezekiel whether he will judge the 'bloody city' by confronting her with all her abominations. The prophet is to expose Jerusalem's sins plainly.
Overview
The Lord calls Jerusalem the 'bloody city' because of widespread violence and injustice within her. Ezekiel's task is to make her face the full reality of her abominations, since true conviction begins with honest exposure of sin. Naming sin clearly is an act of mercy meant to lead to repentance.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Ezek 24:6Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed, to the pot now rusted, whose rust will not come off! Empty it piece by piece; cast no lots for its contents.
- Ezek 20:4Will you judge them, will you judge them, son of man? Confront them with the abominations of their fathers
- Ezek 24:9Yes, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed! I, too, will pile the kindling high.
- Isa 58:1“Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.
- Hos 4:2Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.
- Nah 3:1Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without prey.
- Matt 27:25All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”
- 1 Tim 5:20But those who persist in sin should be rebuked in front of everyone, so that the others will stand in fear of sin.
- 2 Kgs 21:16Moreover, Manasseh shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end, in addition to the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, doing evil in the sight of the LORD.
- Acts 7:52Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers—
- 2 Kgs 24:3–4Surely this happened to Judah at the LORD’s command, to remove them from His presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all that he had done,
- Ezek 8:9–17Then He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations they are committing here.”
- Jer 2:34Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things
- Luke 11:50As a result, this generation will be charged with the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world,
- Matt 23:35And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
- Ezek 16:1–63Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Ezek 23:1–49Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Jer 2:30“I have struck your sons in vain; they accepted no discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a voracious lion.”
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 22:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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