1Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying , 2Now, thou son of man , wilt thou judge , wilt thou judge the bloody city ? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations . 3Then 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. 4Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed ; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made ; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near , and art come even unto thy years : therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen , and a mocking to all countries . 5Those that be near , and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed . 6Behold, the princes of Israel , every one were in thee to their power to shed blood . 7In 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 vexed the fatherless and the widow . 8Thou hast despised mine holy things , and hast profaned my sabbaths . 9In 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 . 10In thee have they discovered their fathers’ nakedness : in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution . 11And 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 . 12In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood ; thou hast taken usury and increase , and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion , and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD . 13Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made , and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee. 14Can thine heart endure , or can thine hands be strong , in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it , and will do it . 15And I will scatter thee among the heathen , and disperse thee in the countries , and will consume thy filthiness out of thee. 16And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen , and thou shalt know that I am the LORD .
The Consequences of Sin
17And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying , 18Son 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 . 19Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD ; Because ye are all become dross , behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem . 20As 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 mine anger and in my fury , and I will leave you there , and melt you. 21Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath , and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. 22As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace , so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you. 23And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying , 24Son of man , say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed , nor rained upon in the day of indignation . 25There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, 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 thereof. 26Her priests have violated my law , and have profaned mine holy things : they have put no difference between the holy and profane , neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean , and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths , and I am profaned among them. 27Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey , to shed blood , and to destroy souls , to get dishonest gain . 28And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter , seeing vanity , and divining lies unto them, saying , Thus saith the Lord GOD , when the LORD hath not spoken . 29The people of the land have used oppression , and exercised robbery , and have vexed the poor and needy : yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully . 30And 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. 31Therefore have I poured out mine 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 .