[1] Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, [2] "And you, son of
man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her
all her abominable deeds. [3] You shall say, Thus says the Lord GOD: A city
that sheds blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that
makes idols to defile herself! [4] You have become guilty by the blood
which you have shed, and defiled by the idols which you have made; and you
have brought your day near, the appointed time of your years has come.
Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all
the countries. [5] Those who are near and those who are far from you will
mock you, you infamous one, full of tumult. [6] "Behold, the princes of
Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding
blood. [7] Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the
sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are
wronged in you. [8] You have despised my holy things, and profaned my
sabbaths. [9] There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and men in
you who eat upon the mountains; men commit lewdness in your midst. [10] In
you men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they humble women who are
unclean in their impurity. [11] One commits abomination with his neighbor's
wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you defiles
his sister, his father's daughter. [12] In you men take bribes to shed
blood; you take interest and increase and make gain of your neighbors by
extortion; and you have forgotten me, says the Lord GOD. [13] "Behold,
therefore, I strike my hands together at the dishonest gain which you have
made, and at the blood which has been in the midst of you. [14] Can your
courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal
with you? I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it. [15] I will scatter you
among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will
consume your filthiness out of you. [16] And I shall be profaned through
you in the sight of the nations; and you shall know that I am the LORD."
[17] And the word of the LORD came to me: [18] "Son of man, the house of
Israel has become dross to me; all of them, silver and bronze and tin and
iron and lead in the furnace, have become dross. [19] Therefore thus says
the Lord GOD: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will
gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. [20] As men gather silver and
bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire upon it
in order to melt it; so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and
I will put you in and melt you. [21] I will gather you and blow upon you
with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. [22]
As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of
it; and you shall know that I the LORD have poured out my wrath upon you."
[23] And the word of the LORD came to me: [24] "Son of man, say to her, You
are a land that is not cleansed, or rained upon in the day of indignation.
[25] Her princes in the midst of her are like a roaring lion tearing the
prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious
things; they have made many widows in the midst of her. [26] Her priests
have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things; they have
made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they
taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have
disregarded my sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. [27] Her princes
in the midst of her are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood,
destroying lives to get dishonest gain. [28] And her prophets have daubed
for them with whitewash, seeing false visions and divining lies for them,
saying, `Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD has not spoken. [29] The
people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery; they
have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner
without redress. [30] And I sought for a man among them who should build up
the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not
destroy it; but I found none. [31] Therefore I have poured out my
indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath;
their way have I requited upon their heads, says the Lord GOD."
