English Standard Version

New Living Translation

1And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

1Now this message came to me from the LORD:

2“And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations.

2“Son of man, are you ready to judge Jerusalem? Are you ready to judge this city of murderers? Publicly denounce her detestable sins,

3You shall say, Thus says the Lord GOD: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself!

3and give her this message from the Sovereign LORD: O city of murderers, doomed and damned—city of idols, filthy and foul—

4You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought your days near, the appointed time of your years has come. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries.

4you are guilty because of the blood you have shed. You are defiled because of the idols you have made. Your day of destruction has come! You have reached the end of your years. I will make you an object of mockery throughout the world.

5Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; your name is defiled; you are full of tumult.

5O infamous city, filled with confusion, you will be mocked by people far and near.

6“Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood.

6“Every leader in Israel who lives within your walls is bent on murder.

7Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you.

7Fathers and mothers are treated with contempt. Foreigners are forced to pay for protection. Orphans and widows are wronged and oppressed among you.

8You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths.

8You despise my holy things and violate my Sabbath days of rest.

9There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst.

9People accuse others falsely and send them to their death. You are filled with idol worshipers and people who do obscene things.

10In you men uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity.

10Men sleep with their fathers’ wives and force themselves on women who are menstruating.

11One commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you violates his sister, his father’s daughter.

11Within your walls live men who commit adultery with their neighbors’ wives, who defile their daughters-in-law, or who rape their own sisters.

12In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.

12There are hired murderers, loan racketeers, and extortioners everywhere. They never even think of me and my commands, says the Sovereign LORD.

13“Behold, I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made, and at the blood that has been in your midst.

13“But now I clap my hands in indignation over your dishonest gain and bloodshed.

14Can 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.

14How strong and courageous will you be in my day of reckoning? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do what I said.

15I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your uncleanness out of you.

15I will scatter you among the nations and purge you of your wickedness.

16And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the LORD.”

16And when I have been dishonored among the nations because of you, you will know that I am the LORD.” The LORD’s Refining Furnace

17And the word of the LORD came to me:

17Then this message came to me from the LORD:

18“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are dross of silver.

18“Son of man, the people of Israel are the worthless slag that remains after silver is smelted. They are the dross that is left over—a useless mixture of copper, tin, iron, and lead.

19Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

19So tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you are all worthless slag, I will bring you to my crucible in Jerusalem.

20As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on 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.

20Just as silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin are melted down in a furnace, I will melt you down in the heat of my fury.

21I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it.

21I will gather you together and blow the fire of my anger upon you,

22As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the LORD; I have poured out my wrath upon you.”

22and you will melt like silver in fierce heat. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out my fury on you.’” The Sins of Israel’s Leaders

23And the word of the LORD came to me:

23Again a message came to me from the LORD:

24“Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed or rained upon in the day of indignation.

24“Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: In the day of my indignation, you will be like a polluted land, a land without rain.

25The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is 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 her midst.

25Your princes plot conspiracies just as lions stalk their prey. They devour innocent people, seizing treasures and extorting wealth. They make many widows in the land.

26Her 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.

26Your priests have violated my instructions and defiled my holy things. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. And they do not teach my people the difference between what is ceremonially clean and unclean. They disregard my Sabbath days so that I am dishonored among them.

27Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.

27Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually destroy people’s lives for money!

28And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the LORD has not spoken.

28And your prophets cover up for them by announcing false visions and making lying predictions. They say, ‘My message is from the Sovereign LORD,’ when the LORD hasn’t spoken a single word to them.

29The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice.

29Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and deprive foreigners of justice.

30And 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.

30“I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one.

31Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord GOD.”

31So now I will pour out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my anger. I will heap on their heads the full penalty for all their sins. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.