CLV(i)
1 And there is a word of Yahweh unto me, saying,
2 `And you, son of man, do you judge? do you judge the city of blood? then you have caused it to know all its abominations,
3 and you have said:Thus said the Lord Yahweh:The city is shedding blood in its midst, For the coming in of its time, And it has made idols on it for defilement."
4 By your blood that you have shed you have been guilty, And by your idols that you have made you have been defiled, And you cause your days to draw near, And are come in unto your years, Therefore I have given you a reproach to nations, And a derision to all the lands."
5 The near and the far-off from you scoff at you, O defiled of name--abounding in trouble."
6 Lo, princes of Israel--each according to his arm Have been in you to shed blood."
7 Father and mother made light of in you, To a sojourner they dealt oppressively in your midst, Fatherless and widow they oppressed in you."
8 My holy things you have despised, And My sabbaths you have polluted."
9 Men of slander have been in you to shed blood, And on the mountains they have eaten in you, Wickedness they have done in your midst."
10 The nakedness of a father has one uncovered in you, The defiled of impurity they humbled in you."
11 And each with the wife of his neighbor has done abomination, And each his daughter-in-law has defiled through wickedness, And each his sister, his father's daughter, has humbled in you."
12 A bribe they have taken in you to shed blood, Usury and increase you have taken, And cut off your neighbor by oppression, And Me you have forgotten, An affirmation of the Lord Yahweh!"
13 And lo, I have smitten My hand, Because of your dishonest gain that you have gained, And for your blood that has been in your midst."
14 Does your heart stand--are your hands strong, For the days that I am dealing with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken and have done [it]."
15 And I have scattered you among nations, And have spread you out among lands, And consumed your uncleanness out of you."
16 And you have been polluted in yourself Before the eyes of nations, And you have known that I [am] Yahweh.'"
17 And there is a word of Yahweh unto me, saying, `Son of man,
18 The house of Israel has been to Me for dross, All of them [are] brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, In the midst of a furnace--dross has silver been,
19 Therefore, thus said the Lord Yahweh: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 you have been melted in its midst."
22 As the melting of silver in the midst of a furnace, So are you melted in its midst, And you have known that I, Yahweh, I have poured out My fury upon you.'"
23 And there is a word of Yahweh unto me, saying:"
24 `Son of man, say to it, You [are] 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 Yahweh:' And Yahweh has 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 Yahweh!'"