1    2   These were the words of the Lord to me: Man, will you judge her, will you judge the murderous city and bring home to her all her abominable deeds? 3   Say to her, These are the words of the Lord God: Alas for ^note the city that sheds blood within her walls and brings her fate upon herself, the city that makes herself idols and is defiled thereby! 4   The guilt is yours for the blood you have shed, the pollution is on you for the idols you have made. You have shortened your days by this and brought the end of your years nearer. This is why I exposed you to the contempt of the nations and the mockery of every country. 5   Lands far and near will taunt you with your infamy and gross disorder. 6   In you the princes of Israel, one and all, have used their power to shed blood; 7   men have treated their fathers and mothers with contempt, they have oppressed the alien and ill-treated the orphan and the widow. 8   You have disdained what is sacred to me and desecrated my sabbaths. 9   In you, Jerusalem, informers have worked to procure bloodshed; in you are men who have feasted at mountain-shrines and have committed lewdness. 10   In you men have ^note exposed their fathers' nakedness; they have violated women during their periods; 11   they have committed an outrage with their neighbours' wives and have lewdly defiled their daughters-in-law; they have ravished their sisters, their own fathers' daughters. 12   In you men have accepted bribes to shed blood, and they ^note have exacted discount and interest on their loans. You have oppressed your fellows for gain, and you have forgotten me. This is the very word of the Lord God.

Jerusalem's downfall certain

13   See, I strike with my clenched fist in anger at your ill-gotten gains and at the bloodshed within your walls. 14   Will your strength or courage stand when I deal with you? 15   I, the Lord, have spoken and I will act. I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you abroad; thus will I rid you altogether of your defilement. 16   I will sift you ^note in the sight of the nations, and you will know that I am the Lord.

17    18   These were the words of the Lord to me: Man, to men all Israelites are an alloy, their silver alloyed with copper, tin, iron, and lead. ^note 19   Therefore, these are the words of the Lord God: Because you have all become alloyed, 20   I will gather you together into Jerusalem, as a mass of silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin is gathered into a crucible for the fire to be blown to full heat to melt them. So will I gather you in my anger and wrath, set you there and melt you; 21   I will collect you and blow up the fire of my anger until you are melted within it. 22   You will be melted as silver is melted in a crucible, and you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my anger upon you.

23    24   These were the words of the Lord to me: Man, say to Jerusalem, You are like a land on which no rain has fallen; ^note no shower has come down upon you ^note in the days of indignation. 25   The princes within her are ^note like lions growling as they tear their prey. They have devoured men, and seized their treasure and all their wealth; they have widowed many women within her walls. 26   Her priests have done violence to my law ^note and profaned what is sacred to me. They make no distinction between sacred and common, and lead men to see no difference between clean and unclean. They have disregarded my sabbaths, and I am dishonoured among them. 27   Her officers within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood and destroying men's lives to acquire ill-gotten gain. 28   Her prophets use whitewash instead of plaster; ^note their vision is false and their divination a lie. They say, ‘This is the word of the Lord God’, when the Lord has not spoken. 29   The common people are bullies and robbers; they ill-treat the unfortunate and the poor, they are unjust and cruel to the alien. 30   I looked for a man among them who could build up a barricade, who could stand before me in the breach to defend the land from ruin; but I found no such man. 31   I poured out my indignation upon them and utterly destroyed them in the fire of my wrath. Thus I brought on them the punishment they had deserved. This is the very word of the Lord God.

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