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The Sins of Jerusalem
Now this message came to me from the LORD:
Now this message came to me from the LORD:
Sins of Jerusalem
Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
“Son of man, are you ready to judge Jerusalem? Are you ready to judge this city of murderers? Publicly denounce her detestable sins,
“Now, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Yes, show her all her abominations!
Then say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “The city sheds blood in her own midst, that her time may come; and she makes idols within herself to defile herself.
you 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.
You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made. You have caused your days to draw near, and have come to the end of your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all countries.
O infamous city, filled with confusion, you will be mocked by people far and near.
“Every leader in Israel who lives within your walls is bent on murder.
Fathers and mothers are treated with contempt. Foreigners are forced to pay for protection. Orphans and widows are wronged and oppressed among you.
You despise my holy things and violate my Sabbath days of rest.
You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths.
People accuse others falsely and send them to their death. You are filled with idol worshipers and people who do obscene things.
In you are men who slander to cause bloodshed; in you are those who eat on the mountains; in your midst they commit lewdness.
Men sleep with their fathers’ wives and force themselves on women who are menstruating.
In you men uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are set apart during their impurity.
Within your walls live men who commit adultery with their neighbors’ wives, who defile their daughters-in-law, or who rape their own sisters.
One commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; and another in you violates his sister, his father’s daughter.
There are hired murderers, loan racketeers, and extortioners everywhere. They never even think of me and my commands, says the Sovereign LORD.
In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten Me,” says the Lord God.
“But now I clap my hands in indignation over your dishonest gain and bloodshed.
“Behold, therefore, I beat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst.
How strong and courageous will you be in my day of reckoning? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do what I said.
Can your heart endure, or can your hands remain strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and will do it.
I will scatter you among the nations and purge you of your wickedness.
I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and remove your filthiness completely from you.
You shall defile yourself in the sight of the nations; then you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”
The LORD’s Refining Furnace
Then this message came to me from the LORD:
Israel in the Furnace
The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
“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.
“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; they are all bronze, tin, iron, and lead, in the midst of a furnace; they have become dross from silver.
So tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you are all worthless slag, I will bring you to my crucible in Jerusalem.
Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
Just as silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin are melted down in a furnace, I will melt you down in the heat of my fury.
As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to melt it; so I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there and melt you.
I will gather you together and blow the fire of my anger upon you,
Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst.
and you will melt like silver in fierce heat. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out my fury on you.’”
As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have poured out My fury on you.’ ”
The Sins of Israel’s Leaders
Again a message came to me from the LORD:
Israel’s Wicked Leaders
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
“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.
Your 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.
Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually destroy people’s lives for money!
And 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.
Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord had not spoken.
Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and deprive foreigners of justice.
The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger.
“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.
So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.
So 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!”
Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.