“Look, the princes of Israel: each one has used his power to shed blood in you.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘“Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his power, have been in you to shed blood.
- KJV Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.
- BSB See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood.
- NASB “Behold, the rulers of Israel, each according to his power, have been among you for the purpose of shedding blood.
- NLT “Every leader in Israel who lives within your walls is bent on murder.
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
The princes of Israel have each used their power to shed blood within the city. Leaders abuse their authority for violence.
Overview
The indictment begins with the rulers, who were meant to protect but instead used their strength to murder and oppress. Their abuse of power corrupts the whole society. Scripture holds leaders to account, for those entrusted with authority bear heavier responsibility before God (James 3:1).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Isa 1:23Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves. Everyone loves bribes, and follows after rewards. They don’t judge the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come to them.
- Ezek 22:27Her princes within it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.
- Neh 9:34Also our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law, nor listened to your commandments and your testimonies with which you testified against them.
- Zech 3:3Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the angel.
- Mic 3:1–3I said, “Please listen, you heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: Isn’t it for you to know justice?
- Dan 9:8Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.
- Jer 2:26–27As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets;
- Mic 2:1Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.
- Jer 32:32because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
- Mic 3:9–11Please listen to this, you heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice, and pervert all equity.
- Jer 5:5I will go to the great men, and will speak to them; for they know the way of Yahweh, and the law of their God.” But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
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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 22:6 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.