| New King James Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, | 1Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, |
| 2“Now, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Yes, show her all her abominations! | 2“As for you, son of man, will you judge her? Will you pass judgment on the city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her abominations |
| 3Then 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. | 3and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O city who brings her own doom by shedding blood within her walls and making idols to defile herself, |
| 4You 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. | 4you are guilty of the blood you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close and have come to the end of your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mockery to all the lands. |
| 5Those near and those far from you will mock you as infamous and full of tumult. | 5Those near and far will mock you, O infamous city, full of turmoil. |
| 6“Look, the princes of Israel: each one has used his power to shed blood in you. | 6See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood. |
| 7In you they have made light of father and mother; in your midst they have oppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow. | 7Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed. |
| 8You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths. | 8You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths. |
| 9In you are men who slander to cause bloodshed; in you are those who eat on the mountains; in your midst they commit lewdness. | 9Among you are slanderous men bent on bloodshed; within you are those who eat on the mountain shrines and commit acts of indecency. |
| 10In you men uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are set apart during their impurity. | 10In you they have uncovered the nakedness of their fathers; in you they violate women during their menstrual impurity. |
| 11One 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. | 11One man commits an abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter. |
| 12In 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. | 12In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD. |
| 13“Behold, therefore, I beat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst. | 13Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst. |
| 14Can 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. | 14Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will act. |
| 15I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and remove your filthiness completely from you. | 15I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you throughout the lands; I will purge your uncleanness. |
| 16You shall defile yourself in the sight of the nations; then you shall know that I am the LORD.” ’ ” | 16And when you have defiled yourself in the eyes of the nations, then you will know that I am the LORD.’ ” |
| 17The word of the LORD came to me, saying, | 17Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, |
| 18“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. | 18“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are but the dross of silver. |
| 19Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. | 19Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because all of you have become dross, behold, I will gather you into Jerusalem. |
| 20As 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. | 20Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to melt with a fiery blast, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, leave you there, and melt you. |
| 21Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst. | 21Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted within the city. |
| 22As 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.’ ” | 22As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted within the city. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath upon you.’ ” |
| 23And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, | 23And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, |
| 24“Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’ | 24“Son of man, say to her, ‘In the day of indignation, you are a land that has not been cleansed, upon which no rain has fallen.’ |
| 25The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured people; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. | 25The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her. |
| 26Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. | 26Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. |
| 27Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain. | 27Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain. |
| 28Her 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. | 28Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken. |
| 29The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger. | 29The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice. |
| 30So 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. | 30I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one. |
| 31Therefore 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. | 31So I have poured out My indignation upon them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their ways down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.” |
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