There are no fewer than eight references in this chapter to Jerusalem as a city filled with those who shed blood (22:2–4, 6, 9, 12–13, 27). That phrase is as old as Genesis 9:6. There are no new sins, just new sinners. It is a city marked by violence and brutality, with a soaring crime rate. All this is noted to justify God’s intended annihilation of the city.

There are three sections in this oracle against Jerusalem. The first (22:1–16) begins with a challenge from God to the prophet to accuse the city. The city is one in which reverence for life is gone and attachment to idols has become popular. Both the shedding of blood and idolatry incur guilt. In the process, once mighty and glorious Jerusalem becomes an object of scorn and a laughingstock. The princes of Israel (22:6) are the var…