Ezekiel 22:1-16

The opening of this chapter, in the words of the Lord, is put into the form of a question, not only of judging, but it seems as if the Lord condescended to ask His servant, whether he had ought to say in justification of the city of bloods, for so the original is; meaning much evil abounded in Jerusalem. And then, as if the Lord knew the Prophet could not say anything by way of the least apology, the Lord adds, Then say thou; that is, then pronounce both their guilt and their punishment; and all that follows in this paragraph is to this amount. Crimes upon crimes, and sins of the blackest nature. And all this found in the Jerusalem of the Lord! Tell it not in Gath; publish it not in the streets of Askelon.