Jerusalem's Sins
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The word of the LORD came to me:
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"Son of man, will you judge her?
Will you judge this city of bloodshed?
Then confront her with all her detestable practices
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and say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
O city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood
in her midst and defiles herself by making idols,
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you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed
and have become defiled by the idols you have made.
You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come.
Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations
and a laughingstock to all the countries.
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Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you,
O infamous city, full of turmoil.
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"See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you
uses his power to shed blood.
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In you they have treated father and mother with contempt;
in you they have oppressed the alien and mistreated the fatherlaess and the widow.
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You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths.
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In you are slanderous men bent on shedding blood;
in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts.
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In you are those who dishonor their fahters' bed;
in you are those who violate women during their period,
when they are ceremonially unclean.
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In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor's wife,
another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law,
and another vioates his sister, his own father's daughter.
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In you men accept bribes to shed blood;
you take usury and excessive interest and
make unjust gain from your neighbors by extortion.
And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign LORD.
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" 'I will surely strike my hands together at the unjust gain you have made
and at the blood you have shed in your midst.
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Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you?
I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.
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I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you through the countries,
and I will put an end to your uncleannhess.
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When you have been defiled in the eyes of the nations,
you will know that I am the LORD.' "
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Then the word of the LORD came to me:
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"Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me;
allmof them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace.
They are but the dross of silver.
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Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
'Because you have all become dross,
I will gather you into Jerusalem.
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As men gather silver, copper, iron, lead and tin
into a furnace to melt it with a fiery blast,
so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath
and put you inside the city and melt you.
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I will gather you and I will blow on you with my fiery wrath,
and you will be melted inside her.
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As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her,
and you will know that I the LORD have poured out my wrath upon you.' "
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Again the word of the LORD came to me:
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"Son of man, say to the land,
'You are a land that has had no rain or showers in the day of wrath.'
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There is a conspiracy of her princes within her
like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people take
treasures and precious things and make many widows within her.
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Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things;
they do not distinguish between the holy and the common;
they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean;
and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths,
so that I am profaned among them.
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Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey;
they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain.
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Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visons and lying divinations.
They say, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says' - when the LORD has not spoken.
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The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery;
they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice.
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"I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall
and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land
so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.
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So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger,
bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD."
