22A message came to me from the Lord. He said, ²“Son of man, are you going to judge Jerusalem? Will you judge this city that has so many murderers in it? Then tell its people they have done many evil things. I hate those things. ³Tell them, ‘The Lord and King says, “Your city brings death on itself. You spill blood inside its walls. You pollute yourselves by making statues of gods. ⁴You are guilty of spilling blood. The statues you have made have polluted you.

“ ‘ “You have brought your days to a close. The end of your years has come. So the nations will make fun of you. All of the countries will laugh at you. ⁵Those who are near you will tell jokes about you. So will those who are far away. Trouble fills the streets of your sinful city.

⁶“ ‘ “The princes of Israel are in your city. All of them use their power to spill blood. ⁷They have made fun of fathers and mothers alike. They have crushed outsiders. They have treated badly the children whose fathers have died. They have done the same thing to widows.

⁸“ ‘ “You have looked down on the holy things that were set apart to me. You have misused my Sabbath days. ⁹You have spread lies about others so you can spill someone’s blood. You eat at the mountain temples. You commit impure acts.

¹⁰“ ‘ “You bring shame on your fathers by having sex with their wives. You have sex with women during their monthly period. That is when they are ‘unclean.’ ¹¹One of you has sex with another man’s wife. I hate that sin. Another brings shame on his daughter-in-law by having sex with her. Still another has sex with his sister, even though she is his own father’s daughter.

¹²“ ‘ “You accept money from people who want special favors. You do it to spill someone’s blood. You charge too much interest when you lend money. You get rich by cheating your neighbors. And you have forgotten me,” announces the Lord and King.

¹³“ ‘ “I will clap my hands because I am so angry. You got rich by cheating others. You spilled blood inside the walls of your city.

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