1 Sins of Jerusalem Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 “Now, son of man, Ezek. 20:4 will you judge, will you judge Nah. 3:1 the bloody city? Yes, show her all her abominations!
3 Then say, ‘Thus says the Lord God : “The city sheds Ezek. 24:6, 7 blood in her own midst, that her time may come; and she makes idols within herself to defile herself.
4 You have become guilty by the blood which you have 2 Kin. 21:16; Ezek. 24:7, 8 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; Deut. 28:37;1 Kin. 9:7; Ezek. 5:14; Dan. 9:16 therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all countries.
5 Those near and those far from you will mock you as infamous and full of tumult.
6 “Look, Is. 1:23; Ezek. 22:27; Mic. 3:1–3; Zeph. 3:3 the princes of Israel: each one has used his power to shed blood in you.
7 In you they have Ex. 20:12; Lev. 20:9; Deut. 5:16; 27:16 made light of father and mother; in your midst they have Ex. 22:22; Jer. 5:28; Ezek. 22:25; Mal. 3:5 oppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow.
8 You have despised My holy things and Lev. 19:30 profaned My Sabbaths.
9 In you are Lev. 19:16; Jer. 9:4 men who slander to cause bloodshed; Ezek. 18:6, 11 in you are those who eat on the mountains; in your midst they commit lewdness.
10 In you men Lev. 18:7, 8 uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are Lev. 18:19; 20:18; Ezek. 18:6 set apart during their impurity.
11 One commits abomination Lev. 18:20; Jer. 5:8; Ezek. 18:11 with his neighbor’s wife; Lev. 18:15 another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; and another in you violates his sister, his father’s Lev. 18:9 daughter.
12 In you Ex. 23:8; Deut. 16:19; 27:25; Mic. 7:2, 3 they take bribes to shed blood; Ex. 22:25 you take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and Deut. 32:18; Ps. 106:21; Jer. 3:21; Ezek. 23:35 have forgotten Me,” says the Lord God .
13 “Behold, therefore, I Ezek. 21:17 beat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst.
14 Ezek. 21:7 Can your heart endure, or can your hands remain strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? Ezek. 17:24 I, the Lord , have spoken, and will do it.
15 Deut. 4:27; Neh. 1:8; Ezek. 20:23; Zech. 7:14 I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and Ezek. 23:27, 48 remove your filthiness completely from you.
16 You shall defile yourself in the sight of the nations; then Ps. 9:16 you shall know that I am the Lord .” ’ ”
17 Israel in the Furnace The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
18 “Son of man, Ps. 119:119; Is. 1:22; Jer. 6:28; Lam. 4:1 the house of Israel has become dross to Me; they are all bronze, tin, iron, and lead, in the midst of a Prov. 17:3; Is. 48:10 furnace; they have become dross from silver.
19 Therefore thus says the Lord God : ‘Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
20 As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to Is. 1:25; Jer. 9:7 melt it; so I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there and melt you.
21 Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst.
22 As 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 Ezek. 20:8, 33; Hos. 5:10 poured out My fury on you.’ ”
23 Israel’s Wicked Leaders And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
24 “Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that is Is. 9:13; Jer. 2:30; Ezek. 24:13; Zeph. 3:2 not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’
25 Jer. 11:9; Hos. 6:9 The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they Matt. 23:14 have devoured people; Mic. 3:11; Zeph. 3:3, 4 they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.
26 Jer. 32:32; Lam. 4:3; Mal. 2:8 Her priests have violated My law and 1 Sam. 2:29 profaned My holy things; they have not Lev. 10:10 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.
27 Her Is. 1:23; Ezek. 22:6; Mic. 3:1–3, 9–11; Zeph. 3:3 princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain.
28 Ezek. 13:10 Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, Ezek. 13:6, 7 seeing false visions, and divining Jer. 23:25–32; Ezek. 21:29 lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God ,’ when the Lord had not spoken.
29 The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully Ex. 23:9; Lev. 19:33 oppress the stranger.
30 Is. 59:16; 63:5; Jer. 5:1 So I sought for a man among them who would Ezek. 13:5 make a wall, and Ps. 106:23; Jer. 15:1 stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.
31 Therefore I have Ezek. 22:22 poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed Ezek. 9:10; (Rom. 2:8, 9) their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God .