Judgment on Jerusalem’s Sins

22 The word of the Lord came to me:

2 “Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed?b Then confront her with all her detestable practicesc 3 and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You city that brings on herself doom by shedding bloodd in her midst and defiles herself by making idols, 4 you have become guilty because of the blood you have shede and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come.f Therefore I will make you an object of scorng to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries.h 5 Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, you infamous city, full of turmoil.i

6 “ ‘See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood.j 7 In you they have treated father and mother with contempt;k in you they have oppressed the foreignerl and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.m 8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths.n 9 In you are slandererso who are bent on shedding blood;p in you are those who eat at the mountain shrinesq and commit lewd acts.r 10 In you are those who dishonor their father’s bed;s in you are those who violate women during their period,t when they are ceremonially unclean.u 11 In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor’s wife,v another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law,w and another violates his sister,x his own father’s daughter.y 12 In you are people who accept bribesz to shed blood; you take interesta and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbors.b And you have forgottenc me, declares the Sovereign Lord.d

13 “ ‘I will surely strike my handse together at the unjust gainf you have made and at the bloodg you have shed in your midst.h 14 Will your courage endurei or your handsj be strong in the day I deal with you? I the Lord have spoken,k and I will do it.l 15 I will disperse you among the nations and scatterm you through the countries; and I will put an end ton your uncleanness.o 16 When you have been defileda in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

17 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, the people of Israel have become drossp to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace.q They are but the dross of silver.r 19 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Because you have all become dross,s I will gather you into Jerusalem. 20 As silver, copper, iron, lead and tin are gathered into a furnace to be melted with a fiery blast, so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you.t 21 I will gather you and I will blowu on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her.v 22 As silver is meltedw in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the Lord have poured out my wrathx on you.’ ”y

23 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 24 “Son of man, say to the land, ‘You are a land that has not been cleansed or rained on in the day of wrath.’z 25 There is a conspiracya of her princesb within her like a roaring lionb tearing its prey; they devour people,c take treasures and precious things and make many widowsd within her. 26 Her priests do violence to my lawe and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common;f they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean;g and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profanedh among them.i 27 Her officialsj within her are like wolvesk tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill peoplel to make unjust gain.m 28 Her prophets whitewashn these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations.o They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has not spoken.p 29 The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery;q they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner,r denying them justice.s

30 “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wallt and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.u 31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger,v bringing downw on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.x”