New Living Translation

New American Standard Bible 1995

1Now this message came to me from the LORD:

1Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

2“Son of man, are you ready to judge Jerusalem? Are you ready to judge this city of murderers? Publicly denounce her detestable sins,

2"And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then cause her to know all her abominations.

3and give her this message from the Sovereign LORD: O city of murderers, doomed and damned—city of idols, filthy and foul—

3"You shall say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "A city shedding blood in her midst, so that her time will come, and that makes idols, contrary to her interest, for defilement!

4you 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.

4"You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and defiled by your idols which you have made. Thus you have brought your day near and have come to your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mocking to all the lands.

5O infamous city, filled with confusion, you will be mocked by people far and near.

5"Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you of ill repute, full of turmoil.

6“Every leader in Israel who lives within your walls is bent on murder.

6"Behold, the rulers of Israel, each according to his power, have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood.

7Fathers and mothers are treated with contempt. Foreigners are forced to pay for protection. Orphans and widows are wronged and oppressed among you.

7"They have treated father and mother lightly within you. The alien they have oppressed in your midst; the fatherless and the widow they have wronged in you.

8You despise my holy things and violate my Sabbath days of rest.

8"You have despised My holy things and profaned My sabbaths.

9People accuse others falsely and send them to their death. You are filled with idol worshipers and people who do obscene things.

9"Slanderous men have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood, and in you they have eaten at the mountain shrines. In your midst they have committed acts of lewdness.

10Men sleep with their fathers’ wives and force themselves on women who are menstruating.

10"In you they have uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in you they have humbled her who was unclean in her menstrual impurity.

11Within your walls live men who commit adultery with their neighbors’ wives, who defile their daughters-in-law, or who rape their own sisters.

11"One has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law. And another in you has humbled his sister, his father's daughter.

12There are hired murderers, loan racketeers, and extortioners everywhere. They never even think of me and my commands, says the Sovereign LORD.

12"In you they have taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and profits, and you have injured your neighbors for gain by oppression, and you have forgotten Me," declares the Lord GOD.

13“But now I clap my hands in indignation over your dishonest gain and bloodshed.

13"Behold, then, I smite My hand at your dishonest gain which you have acquired and at the bloodshed which is among you.

14How strong and courageous will you be in my day of reckoning? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do what I said.

14"Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong in the days that I will deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken and will act.

15I will scatter you among the nations and purge you of your wickedness.

15"I will scatter you among the nations and I will disperse you through the lands, and I will consume your uncleanness from you.

16And when I have been dishonored among the nations because of you, you will know that I am the LORD.” The LORD’s Refining Furnace

16"You will profane yourself in the sight of the nations, and you will know that I am the LORD."'"

17Then this message came to me from the LORD:

17And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

18“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.

18"Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are the dross of silver.

19So tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you are all worthless slag, I will bring you to my crucible in Jerusalem.

19"Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because all of you have become dross, therefore, behold, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

20Just as silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin are melted down in a furnace, I will melt you down in the heat of my fury.

20As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath and I will lay you there and melt you.

21I will gather you together and blow the fire of my anger upon you,

21'I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it.

22and you will melt like silver in fierce heat. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out my fury on you.’” The Sins of Israel’s Leaders

22'As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath on you.'"

23Again a message came to me from the LORD:

23And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

24“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.

24"Son of man, say to her, 'You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.'

25Your princes plot conspiracies just as lions stalk their prey. They devour innocent people, seizing treasures and extorting wealth. They make many widows in the land.

25"There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her.

26Your 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.

26"Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

27Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually destroy people’s lives for money!

27"Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain.

28And 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.

28"Her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD has not spoken.

29Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and deprive foreigners of justice.

29"The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice.

30“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.

30"I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.

31So 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!”

31"Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads," declares the Lord GOD.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org