The Sins of Jerusalem

1Moreouer, the worde of the Lorde came vnto me, saying, 2Now thou sonne of man, wilt thou iudge, wilt thou iudge this bloody citie? wilt thou shew her all her abominations? 3Then say, Thus sayth the Lorde God, The citie sheddeth blood in the middes of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against her selfe to pollute her selfe. 4Thou hast offended in thy blood, that thou hast shed, & hast polluted thy selfe in thine idols, which thou hast made, and thou hast caused thy dayes to draw neere, & art come vnto thy terme: therefore haue I made thee a reproch to the heathen, and a mocking to all countreys. 5Those that be neere, & those that be farre from thee, shall mocke thee, which art vile in name and sore in affliction.

6Beholde, the princes of Israel euery one in thee was ready to his power, to shed blood. 7In thee haue they despised father and mother: in the middes of thee haue they oppressed the stranger: in thee haue they vexed the fatherlesse and the widowe. 8Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast polluted my Sabbaths. 9In thee are men that cary tales to shed blood: in thee are they that eate vpon the mountaines: in ye mids of thee they comit abomination. 10In thee haue they discouered their fathers shame: in thee haue they vexed her that was polluted in her floures. 11And euery one hath committed abomination with his neighbours wife, and euery one hath wickedly defiled his daughter in lawe, and in thee hath euery man forced his owne sister, euen his fathers daughter. 12In thee haue they taken giftes to shed blood: thou hast taken vsurie and the encrease, and thou hast defrauded thy neighbours by extortion, & hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God.

13Beholde, therefore I haue smitten mine hands vpon thy couetousnesse, that thou hast vsed, and vpon the blood, which hath bene in the middes of thee. 14Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the dayes that I shall haue to doe with thee? I the Lorde haue spoken it, and will doe it. 15And I wil scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countreys, and will cause thy filthines to cease from thee. 16And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thy selfe in the sight of the heathen, & thou shalt knowe that I am the Lord.

The Refining Furnace

17And the worde of the Lorde came vnto me, saying, 18Sonne of man, the house of Israel is vnto me as drosse: all they are brasse, and tinne, and yron, and leade in the mids of the fornace: they are euen the drosse of siluer. 19Therefore, thus sayth the Lorde God, Because ye are all as drosse, beholde, therefore I will gather you in the middes of Ierusalem. 20As they gather siluer and brasse, and yron, and leade, and tinne into the middes of the fornace, to blowe the fire vpon it to melt it, so wil I gather you in mine anger and in my wrath, and wil put you there and melt you. 21I wil gather you, I say, and blowe the fire of my wrath vpon you, and you shalbe melted in the mids thereof. 22As siluer is melted in the mids of the fornace, so shal ye be melted in the mids thereof, and ye shall knowe, that I the Lord haue powred out my wrath vpon you.

Israel’s Wicked Leaders

23And the worde of the Lord came vnto me, saying, 24Sonne of man, say vnto her; Thou art the land, that is vncleane, and not rained vpon in the day of wrath. 25There is a conspiracie of her prophets in the mids thereof like a roaring lyon, rauening the praye: they haue deuoured soules: they haue taken the riches and precious things: they haue made her many widowes in the mids thereof. 26Her Priests haue broken my Lawe, and haue defiled mine holy things: they haue put no difference betweene the holy and prophane, neither discerned betweene the vncleane, and the cleane, and haue hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am prophaned among them. 27Her princes in the mids thereof are like wolues, rauening the praye to shed blood, and to destroy soules for their owne couetous lucre. 28And her prophets haue dawbed them with vntempered morter, seeing vanities, and diuining lies vnto them, saying, Thus sayth the Lord God, when the Lord had not spoken. 29The people of the land haue violently oppressed by spoyling and robbing, and haue vexed the poore and the needy: yea, they haue oppressed the stranger against right. 30And I sought for a man among them, that should make vp the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. 31Therefore haue I powred out mine indignation vpon them, and consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their owne wayes haue I rendred vpon their heads, sayth the Lord God.