1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 "Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her detestable practices
3 and say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: You city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood in her midst and defiles herself by making idols,
4 you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries.
5 Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, you infamous city, full of turmoil.
6 "'See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood.
7 In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the foreigner and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.
8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths.
9 In you are slanderers who are bent on shedding blood; in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts.
10 In you are those who dishonor their father's bed; in you are those who violate women during their period, when they are ceremonially unclean.
11 In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor's wife, another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law, and another violates his sister, his own father's daughter.
12 In you are people who accept bribes to shed blood; you take interest and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbors. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign LORD.
13 "'I will surely strike my hands together at the unjust gain you have made and at the blood you have shed in your midst.
14 Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.
15 I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you through the countries; and I will put an end to your uncleanness.
16 When you have been defiled "in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the LORD.'"
17 Then the word of the LORD came to me:
18 "Son of man, the people of Israel have become dross to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are but the dross of silver.
19 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: 'Because you have all become dross, I will gather you into Jerusalem.
20 As silver, copper, iron, lead and tin are gathered into a furnace to be melted with a fiery blast, so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you.
21 I will gather you and I will blow on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her.
22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the LORD have poured out my wrath on you.'"
23 Again the word of the LORD came to me:
24 "Son of man, say to the land, 'You are a land that has not been cleansed or rained on in the day of wrath.'
25 There is a conspiracy of her princes "within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her.
26 Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
27 Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain.
28 Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says' —when the LORD has not spoken.
29 The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice.
30 "I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.
31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD."
1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 Now, you son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? yes, you shall show her all her abominations.
3 Then say you, Thus said the Lord GOD, The city sheds blood in the middle of it, that her time may come, and makes idols against herself to defile herself.
4 You are become guilty in your blood that you have shed; and have defiled yourself in your idols which you have made; and you have caused your days to draw near, and are come even to your years: therefore have I made you a reproach to the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.
5 Those that be near, and those that be far from you, shall mock you, which are infamous and much vexed.
6 Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in you to their power to shed blood.
7 In you have they set light by father and mother: in the middle of you have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in you have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.
8 You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my sabbaths.
9 In you are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in you they eat on the mountains: in the middle of you they commit lewdness.
10 In you have they discovered their fathers'nakedness: in you have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.
11 And one has committed abomination with his neighbor' wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in you has humbled his sister, his father' daughter.
12 In you have they taken gifts to shed blood; you have taken usury and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten me, said the Lord GOD.
13 Behold, therefore I have smitten my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been in the middle of you.
14 Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it.
15 And I will scatter you among the heathen, and disperse you in the countries, and will consume your filthiness out of you.
16 And you shall take your inheritance in yourself in the sight of the heathen, and you shall know that I am the LORD.
17 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
18 Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the middle of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver.
19 Therefore thus said the Lord GOD; Because you are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the middle of Jerusalem.
20 As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the middle of the furnace, to blow the fire on it, to melt it; so will I gather you in my anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you.
21 Yes, I will gather you, and blow on you in the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the middle therof.
22 As silver is melted in the middle of the furnace, so shall you be melted in the middle thereof; and you shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury on you.
23 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
24 Son of man, say to her, You are the land that is not cleansed, nor rained on in the day of indignation.
25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the middle thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the middle thereof.
26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
27 Her princes in the middle thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies to them, saying, Thus said the Lord GOD, when the LORD has not spoken.
29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yes, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
31 Therefore have I poured out my indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed on their heads, said the Lord GOD.