The Sins of Jerusalem

1And the word of YHWH came to me, saying: 2“And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge this city of blood? Then make known to her all her abominations, 3and say, thus says the Lord YHWH: ‘O city, pouring out blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and she makes idols upon herself to defile herself! 4By the blood that you have poured out, you have become guilty, and by the idols that you have made, you have defiled yourself; and your days you have brought near, and you have come to your years! Upon thus I have made you a reproach for the nations, and of derision for all the lands. 5Those near and those far from you will mock you, O unclean of name, full of turmoil.

6Behold, the princes of Israel, each man to his arm, have come to be among you in order to pour out blood! 7The father and mother they have belittled among you; against the sojourner they have acted with oppression in your midst; the fatherless and the widow they have mistreated among you.

8My holy things you have despised, and My Sabbaths you have profaned. 9Men of slander are among you in order to pour out blood, and on the mountains they eat among you, and wickedness they do in your midst.

10The nakedness of their fathers they uncover among you; the impurity of the women they violate among you. 11And a man with the wife of his neighbor commits an abomination, and another man his daughter-in-law defiles in wickedness; and a man violates his sister, the daughter of his father, among you.

12They take Bribes among you in order to pour out blood; usury and increase you take, and you cut off your neighbors by extortion, and Me you have forgotten, a declaration of the Lord YHWH.

13So behold, I strike My hands against your dishonest gain that you have made, and over the bloodshed that has come to be in your midst! 14Can your heart stand or can your hands remain strong, in the days when I will be dealing with you? I, YHWH, have spoken, and I will act. 15And I will disperse you among the nations, and I will scatter you among the lands, and I will finish off your uncleanness from you. 16And you will profane yourself† before the eyes of the nations, and you will know that I am YHWH.’”

The Refining Furnace

17And the word of YHWH came to me, saying: 18“Son of man, the house of Israel has become to Me as dross; they are all bronze, and tin, and iron, and lead in the midst of a furnace; they have become the dross of silver.

19Therefore, thus says the Lord YHWH: ‘Because all of you⁺ have become as dross, therefore, behold, I am going to gather you⁺ into the midst of Jerusalem. 20The gathering of silver, and bronze, and iron, and lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow on it fire to melt it; so I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you and I will melt you⁺!

21And I will gather you⁺ and will blow on you⁺ with the fire of My wrath, and you⁺ will be melted in its midst. 22As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so will you⁺ be melted in its midst. And you⁺ will know that I, YHWH, have poured out My fury upon you⁺.’”

Israel’s Wicked Leaders

23And the word of YHWH came to me, saying, 24“Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that is not cleansed, nor is rain on her, in the day of anger.’

25The conspiracy of her princes† in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured the soul; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.

26Her priests have done violence to My law, and have profaned My holy things; between the holy and the profane they do not separate, and between the unclean and the clean they do not discern; and from My Sabbaths they have hidden their eyes, and I am profaned in their midst!

27Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, and to break off dishonest gain.

28And her prophets have covered them with whitewash, seeing falsehood and divining for them a lie, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord YHWH,’ and YHWH has not spoken.

29The people of the land with oppression have oppressed, and with robbery have robbed, and the poor and the needy they have mistreated; and the sojourner they oppress without justice.

30And I sought from them a man walling up the wall and standing in the breach before Me, on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it, and no one did I find. 31And I have poured out on them My anger; with the fire of My wrath I have consumed them; their deeds have I recompensed on their own heads! An utterance of the Lord YHWH.”