1
Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2
Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloodycity? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.
3
Then say thou, Thus saith the LordGOD, The citysheddethblood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and makethidols against herself to defile herself.
4
Thou 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.
5
Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and muchvexed.
6
Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shedblood.
7
In 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.
8
Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.
9
In thee are men that carry tales to shedblood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commitlewdness.
10
In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.
11
And one hath committedabomination with his neighbour's wife; and another hath lewdlydefiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.
12
In thee have they takengifts to shedblood; thou hast takenusury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the LordGOD.
13
Behold, 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.
14
Can thine heartendure, 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.
15
And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.
16
And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
17
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
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.
19
Therefore thus saith the LordGOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
20
As they gathersilver, 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.
21
Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.
22
As 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.
23
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
24Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
25
There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaringlionravening the prey; they have devouredsouls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her manywidows in the midst thereof.
26
Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holythings: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they sheweddifference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profanedamong them.
27
Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolvesravening the prey, to shedblood, and to destroysouls, to get dishonest gain.
28
And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeingvanity, and divininglies unto them, saying, Thus saith the LordGOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.
29
The people of the land have used oppression, and exercisedrobbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the strangerwrongfully.
30
And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gapbefore me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
31
Therefore 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 LordGOD.