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

² Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt show her all her abominations.¹²³

1. judge: or, plead for
2. bloody...: Heb. city of bloods?
3. shew her: Heb. make her know

³ Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself.

⁴ Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself by thy idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even to thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach to the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.

⁵ Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee, who art infamous and much troubled.¹

1. infamous...: Heb. polluted of name, much in vexation

⁶ Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.¹

1. power: Heb. arm

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 oppressed the fatherless and the widow.¹

1. oppression: or, deceit

⁸ Thou hast despised my holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.

⁹ In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.¹

1. that...: Heb. of slanders

¹⁰ In thee have they uncovered their fathers’ nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.

¹¹ And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour’s wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father’s daughter.¹²³

1. one: or, every one
2. another: or, every one
3. lewdly: or, by lewdness

¹² In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained from thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.

¹³ Behold, therefore I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.

¹⁴ Can thy heart endure, or can thy 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 thy inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.¹

1. shalt take...: or, shalt be profaned

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

¹⁸ Son 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.¹

1. dross of silver: Heb. drosses, etc

¹⁹ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

²⁰ As they gather silver, 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 my anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you.¹

1. As...: Heb. According to the gathering

²¹ Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst of it.

²² As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst of it; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you.

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

²⁴ Son of man, say to 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 of her, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst of her.

²⁶ Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shown difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.¹

1. violated: Heb. offered violence to

²⁷ Her princes in the midst of her are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

²⁸ And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies to them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.

²⁹ The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have oppressed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.¹²

1. oppression: or, deceit
2. wrongfully: Heb. without right

³⁰ And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

³¹ Therefore have I poured out my indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.