The Sins of Jerusalem

1And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 2And thou, son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? Yea, cause her to know all her abominations, 3and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A city that sheddeth blood in her midst, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself. 4Thou art become guilty by thy blood which thou hast shed, and hast defiled thyself with thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the nations, and a mocking unto all countries. 5Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee, who art infamous and full of tumult.

6Behold, the princes of Israel have been in thee to shed blood, each according to his power. 7In thee have they made light of father and mother; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger; in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow. 8Thou hast despised my holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths. 9In thee there have been slanderous men to shed blood; and in thee have they eaten upon the mountains; in the midst of thee they have committed lewdness; 10in thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness; in thee have they humbled her that was unclean in her separation. 11And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter. 12In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast overreached thy neighbours by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord Jehovah.

13And behold, I have smitten mine hand at thine overreaching which thou hast done, and at thy bloodshed which hath been in the midst of thee. 14Shall thy heart endure, shall thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I Jehovah have spoken, and will do it. 15And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee through the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee. 16And thou shalt be polluted through thyself in the sight of the nations, and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah.

The Refining Furnace

17And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 18Son of man, the house of Israel is become dross to me: they are all copper, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace: they are become the dross of silver. 19Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye are all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20As they gather silver, and copper, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it, so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will lay you on and melt you. 21Yea, I will collect you, and blow upon you the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. 22As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I Jehovah have poured out my fury upon you.

The Sins of Prophets, Priests, Princes

23And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 24Son of man, say unto her, Thou art a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. 25There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst of her like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they devour souls; they take away treasure and precious things; they increase her widows in the midst of her; 26her priests do violence to my law, and profane my holy things: they put no difference between the holy and profane, neither do they make known the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they hide their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 27Her princes in the midst of her are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. 28And her prophets have daubed for them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah! and Jehovah hath not spoken. 29The people of the land use oppression and practise robbery; and they vex the poor and needy, and oppress the stranger wrongfully. 30And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the fence, and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none. 31And I will pour out mine indignation upon them; I will consume them in the fire of my wrath: their own way will I recompense upon their head, saith the Lord Jehovah.