New Living Translation

King James Bible

1Now this message came to me from the LORD:

1Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

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

2Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.

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

3Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself.

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.

4Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.

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

5Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed.

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

6Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.

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

7In thee have they set light by 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.

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

8Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.

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

9In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.

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

10In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.

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

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.

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

12In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.

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

13Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.

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

14Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it.

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

15And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.

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

16And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

17Then this message came to me from the LORD:

17And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

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.

18Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver.

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.

19Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

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.

20As they gather silver, and brass, 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 leave you there, and melt you.

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

21Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.

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

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 the LORD have poured out my fury upon you.

23Again a message came to me from the LORD:

23And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

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.

24Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

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.

25There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

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.

26Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

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

27Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

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.

28And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.

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

29The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

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.

30And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

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!”

31Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.

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.

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.