¹ And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

² `And thou, son of man, dost thou judge? dost thou judge the city of blood? then thou hast caused it to know all its abominations,

³ and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: The city is shedding blood in its midst, For the coming in of its time, And it hath made idols on it for defilement.

⁴ By thy blood that thou hast shed thou hast been guilty, And by thine idols that thou hast made thou hast been defiled, And thou causest thy days to draw near, And art come in unto thine years, Therefore I have given thee a reproach to nations, And a derision to all the lands.

⁵ The near and the far-off from thee scoff at thee, O defiled of name -- abounding in trouble.

⁶ Lo, princes of Israel -- each according to his arm Have been in thee to shed blood.

⁷ Father and mother made light of in thee, To a sojourner they dealt oppressively in thy midst, Fatherless and widow they oppressed in thee.

⁸ My holy things thou hast despised, And My sabbaths thou hast polluted.

⁹ Men of slander have been in thee to shed blood, And on the mountains they have eaten in thee, Wickedness they have done in thy midst.

¹⁰ The nakedness of a father hath one uncovered in thee, The defiled of impurity they humbled in thee.

¹¹ And each with the wife of his neighbour hath done abomination, And each his daughter-in-law hath defiled through wickedness, And each his sister, his father's daughter, hath humbled in thee.

¹² A bribe they have taken in thee to shed blood, Usury and increase thou hast taken, And cuttest off thy neighbour by oppression, And Me thou hast forgotten, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!

¹³ And lo, I have smitten My hand, Because of thy dishonest gain that thou hast gained, And for thy blood that hath been in thy midst.

¹⁴ Doth thy heart stand -- are thy hands strong, For the days that I am dealing with thee? I, Jehovah, have spoken and have done [it].

¹⁵ And I have scattered thee among nations, And have spread thee out among lands, And consumed thy uncleanness out of thee.

¹⁶ And thou hast been polluted in thyself Before the eyes of nations, And thou hast known that I [am] Jehovah.'

¹⁷ And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, `Son of man,

¹⁸ The house of Israel hath been to Me for dross, All of them [are] brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, In the midst of a furnace -- dross hath silver been,

¹⁹ Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of your all becoming dross, Therefore, lo, I am gathering you unto the midst of Jerusalem,

²⁰ A gathering of silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, Unto the midst of a furnace -- to blow on it fire, to melt it, So do I gather in Mine anger and in My fury, And I have let rest, and have melted you.

²¹ And I have heaped you up, And blown on you in the fire of My wrath, And ye have been melted in its midst.

²² As the melting of silver in the midst of a furnace, So are ye melted in its midst, And ye have known that I, Jehovah, I have poured out My fury upon you.'

²³ And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

²⁴ `Son of man, say to it, Thou [art] a land, It [is] not cleansed nor rained on in a day of indignation.

²⁵ A conspiracy of its prophets [is] in its midst, as a roaring lion tearing prey; The soul they have devoured, Wealth and glory they have taken, Its widows have multiplied in its midst.

²⁶ Its priests have wronged My law, And they pollute My holy things, Between holy and common they have not made separation, And Between the unclean and the clean they have not made known, And from my sabbaths they have hidden their eyes, And I am pierced in their midst.

²⁷ Its princes in its midst [are] as wolves, Tearing prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, For the sake of gaining dishonest gain.

²⁸ And its prophets have daubed for them with chalk, Seeing a vain thing, and divining for them a lie, Saying, `Thus said the Lord Jehovah:' And Jehovah hath not spoken.

²⁹ The people of the land have used oppression, And have taken plunder violently away, And humble and needy have oppressed, And the sojourner oppressed -- without judgment.

³⁰ And I seek of them a man making a fence, And standing in the breach before Me, In behalf of the land -- not to destroy it, And I have not found.

³¹ And I pour out on them mine indignation, By fire of My wrath I have consumed them, Their way on their own head I have put, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'

¹ Wo [to] the rebellious and polluted, The oppressing city!

² She hath not hearkened to the voice, She hath not accepted instruction, In Jehovah she hath not trusted, Unto her God she hath not drawn near.

³ Her heads in her midst [are] roaring lions, Her judges [are] evening wolves, They have not gnawn the bone in the morning.

⁴ Her prophets unstable -- men of treachery, Her priests have polluted the sanctuary, They have violated the law.

⁵ Jehovah [is] righteous in her midst, He doth not do perverseness, Morning by Morning His judgment he giveth to the light, It hath not been lacking, And the perverse doth not know shame.

⁶ I have cut off nations, Desolated have been their chief ones, I have laid waste their out-places without any passing by, Destroyed have been their cities, without man, without inhabitant.

⁷ I have said: Only, ye do fear Me, Ye do accept instruction, And her habitation is not cut off, All that I have appointed for her, But they have risen early, They have corrupted all their doings.

⁸ Therefore, wait for Me -- an affirmation of Jehovah, For the day of My rising for prey, For My judgment [is] to gather nations, To assemble kingdoms, To pour out on them Mine indignation, All the heat of Mine anger, For by the fire of My jealousy consumed is all the earth.

⁹ For then do I turn unto peoples a pure lip, To call all of them by the name of Jehovah, To serve Him [with] one shoulder.

¹⁰ From beyond the rivers of Cush, my supplicants, The daughter of My scattered ones, Do bring My present.

¹¹ In that day thou art not ashamed because of any of thine actions, Wherewith thou hast transgressed against Me, For then do I turn aside from thy midst The exulting ones of thine excellency, And thou dost add no more to be haughty, In My holy mountain.

¹² And I have left in thy midst a people humble and poor, And they have trusted in the name of Jehovah.

¹³ The remnant of Israel do no perversity, nor speak lies, Nor found in their mouth is a deceitful tongue, For they have delight, and have lain down, And there is none troubling.

¹⁴ Cry aloud, O daughter of Zion, shout, O Israel, Rejoice and exult with the whole heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.

¹⁵ Jehovah hath turned aside thy judgments, He hath faced thine enemy, The king of Israel, Jehovah, [is] in thy midst, Thou seest evil no more.

¹⁶ In that day it is said to Jerusalem, `Fear not, O Zion, let not thy hands be feeble.

¹⁷ Jehovah thy God [is] in thy midst, A mighty one doth save, He rejoiceth over thee with joy, He doth work in His love, He joyeth over thee with singing.'

¹⁸ Mine afflicted from the appointed place I have gathered, from thee they have been, Bearing for her sake reproach.

¹⁹ Lo, I am dealing with all afflicting thee at that time, And I have saved the halting one, And the driven out ones I do gather, And have set them for a praise and for a name, In all the land of their shame.

²⁰ At that time I bring you in, Even at the time of My assembling you, For I give you for a name, and for a praise, Among all peoples of the land, In My turning back [to] your captivity before your eyes, said Jehovah!