The Sins of Jerusalem 1 UDB Yahweh gave me another message. He said, BSB BSB: Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 UDB "Son of man, are you ready to condemn the people of Jerusalem? It is a city full of murderers. Remind them of all the detestable things that they have done. BSB BSB: “As for you, son of man, will you judge her? Will you pass judgment on the city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her abominations
3 UDB Then say, 'This is what Yahweh the Lord says: By murdering people and by defiling yourselves, by making idols, you people of this city have brought on yourselves the time when I will destroy you. BSB BSB: and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O city who brings her own doom by shedding blood within her walls and making idols to defile herself,
4 UDB You have become guilty by murdering innocent people. You have made it impossible for me to accept you, by making idols for yourselves. You are bringing your time to an end. Therefore I will cause the other peoples to laugh at you and mock you. BSB BSB: you are guilty of the blood you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close and have come to the end of your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mockery to all the lands.
5 UDB People in countries that are near you and people who live far from you will make fun of you, because your city is full of confusion, and because you have made it impossible for me, your own God, to accept you. BSB BSB: Those near and far will mock you, O infamous city, full of turmoil.
6 UDB Think about how each of your Israelite kings have used his power to murder people. BSB BSB: See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood.
7 UDB Your people do not respect their parents; they have oppressed foreigners; they mistreat orphans and widows. BSB BSB: Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.
8 UDB You despise my sacred places and practices, and you treat the Sabbath days like any other day. BSB BSB: You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths.
9 UDB Among you are men who tell lies in order to cause others to be executed. There are those who go to the hilltops and eat food offered to idols, and they openly perform evil acts. BSB BSB: Among you are slanderous men bent on bloodshed; within you are those who eat on the mountain shrines and commit acts of indecency.
10 UDB There are men who sleep with their father's wife, and men who sleep with women during their monthly menstrual periods. BSB BSB: In you they have uncovered the nakedness of their fathers; in you they violate women during their menstrual impurity.
11 UDB There are men who sleep with someone else's wife. Some of your men sleep with their daughters-in-law or with their own sisters or half-sisters. BSB BSB: One man commits an abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.
12 UDB There are among you men who accept bribes in order to cause someone to be executed. You charge interest when you lend people money. You become rich by forcing people to give you money. And you have forgotten me, Yahweh. BSB BSB: In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.
13 UDB So I will shake my fist at your unfair profits and at the murderers who live among you. BSB BSB: Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst.
14 UDB When I finish punishing you, you will no longer be courageous. I, Yahweh, have said what I will do to you, and I will do it. BSB BSB: Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will act.
15 UDB I will scatter you among many peoples, and I will make you stop your sinful behavior. BSB BSB: I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you throughout the lands; I will purge your uncleanness.
16 UDB When the people of other nations see that you have been humiliated, you will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.'" BSB BSB: And when you have defiled yourself in the eyes of the nations, then you will know that I am the LORD.’”
The Refining Furnace 17 UDB Yahweh then said to me, BSB BSB: Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
18 UDB "Son of man, your Israelite people have become useless to me. They are like dross to me. They are like the useless copper, tin, iron, and lead that remains after silver is melted in a very hot furnace BSB BSB: “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are but the dross of silver.
19 UDB Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: Because you have all become like dross, I will gather you in Jerusalem. BSB BSB: Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because all of you have become dross, behold, I will gather you into Jerusalem.
20 UDB People put ore containing silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin in a very hot furnace and melt them in a blazing fire to burn up the impurities. Similarly, I will gather you together inside Jerusalem, and because I am very angry with you, what I will do will be as though I am melting you. BSB BSB: Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to melt with a fiery blast, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, leave you there, and melt you.
21 UDB It will be as though I am blowing on you with a hot breath that shows that I am very angry, and it will be as though you will melt, BSB BSB: Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted within the city.
22 UDB as though you will melt like silver melts in a furnace, and then you will know that I, Yahweh, have punished you." BSB BSB: As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted within the city. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath upon you.’”
Israel’s Wicked Leaders 23 UDB Yahweh gave me another message. He said, BSB BSB: And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
24 UDB "Son of man, say to the Israelite people, 'You are disgusting to Yahweh, completely unacceptable to him. So Yahweh is angry with you. There will be no rain in your country.' BSB BSB: “Son of man, say to her, ‘In the day of indignation, you are a land that has not been cleansed, upon which no rain has fallen.’
25 UDB Their leaders are like lions that tear apart the animals that they have killed. The leaders destroy their people. They steal treasures and other valuable things from people, and they murder many men and make their wives into widows. BSB BSB: The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.
26 UDB Their priests disobey my laws and dishonor my sacred things by saying that there is no difference between things that are sacred and those that are not sacred, and by ignoring my laws about resting on the Sabbath days. As a result, they no longer honor me. BSB BSB: Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
27 UDB Their officials are like wolves that tear apart the animals that they have killed. They murder people in order to get their money. BSB BSB: Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.
28 UDB Their prophets try to cover up those sins by saying they have received visions from God. They say, 'This is what Yahweh the Lord says,' when I have said nothing to them. BSB BSB: Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.
29 UDB The Israelite people force others to give them money, and they rob people. They oppress poor people, and they mistreat foreigners among them by not treating them fairly in the courts. BSB BSB: The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.
30 UDB I looked among them to find a man who would pray for the people and cause them to repent so that I would not need to destroy them. But I did not find anyone. BSB BSB: I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.
31 UDB So because I am very angry with them, I will severely punish them for all the wicked things that they have done. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh the Lord, have said it." BSB BSB: So I have poured out My indignation upon them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their ways down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.