Good News Translation GNT
World English Bible WEB
1 The Lord spoke to me.
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Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
2 "Mortal man," he said, "are you ready to judge the city that is full of murderers? Make clear to her all the disgusting things she has done.
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You, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? then cause her to know all her abominations.
3 Tell the city what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: Because you have murdered so many of your own people and have defiled yourself by worshiping idols, your time is coming.
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You shall say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: A city that sheds blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that makes idols against herself to defile her!
4 You are guilty of those murders and are defiled by the idols you made, and so your day is coming, your time is up! That is why I have let the nations make fun of you and all the countries sneer at you.
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You have become guilty in your blood that you have shed, and are defiled in your idols which you have made; and you have caused your days to draw near, and are come even to your years: therefore have I made you a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all the countries.
5 Countries nearby and countries far away sneer at you because of your lawlessness.
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Those who are near, and those who are far from you, shall mock you, you infamous one [and] full of tumult.
6 All Israel's leaders trust in their own strength and commit murder.
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Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his power, have been in you to shed blood.
7 None of you in the city honor your parents. You cheat foreigners and take advantage of widows and orphans.
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In you have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of you have they dealt by oppression with the sojourner; in you have they wronged the fatherless and the widow.
8 You have no respect for the holy places, and you don't keep the Sabbath.
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You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my Sabbaths.
9 Some of your people tell lies about others in order to have them put to death. Some of them eat sacrifices offered to idols. Some are always satisfying their lusts.
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Slanderous men have been in you to shed blood; and in you they have eaten on the mountains: in the midst of you they have committed lewdness.
10 Some of them sleep with their father's wife. Some force women to have intercourse with them during their period.
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In you have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in you have they humbled her who was unclean in her impurity.
11 Some commit adultery, and others seduce their daughters-in-law or their half sisters.
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One has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in you has humbled his sister, his father's daughter.
12 Some of your people murder for pay. Some charge interest on the loans they make to other Israelites and get rich by taking advantage of them. They have forgotten me." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.
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In you have they taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me, says the Lord Yahweh.
13 "I will bring my fist down on your robberies and murders.
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Behold, therefore, I have struck my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been in the midst of you.
14 Do you think you will have any courage left or have strength enough to lift your hand when I am finished with you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I keep my word.
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Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and will do it.
15 I will scatter your people to every country and nation and will put an end to your evil actions.
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I will scatter you among the nations, and disperse you through the countries; and I will consume your filthiness out of you.
16 And so the other nations will dishonor you, but you will know that I am the Lord."
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You shall be profaned in yourself, in the sight of the nations; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
17 The Lord said to me,
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The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
18 "Mortal man, the Israelites are of no use to me. They are like waste metal - copper, tin, iron, and lead - left over after silver has been refined in a furnace.
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Son of man, the house of Israel is become dross to me: all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.
19 So now I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling them that they are just as useless as that. I will bring them all together in Jerusalem
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Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you are all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
20 in the same way that the ore of silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin is put in a refining furnace. My anger and rage will melt them the way fire melts ore.
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As they gather silver and brass and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire on it, to melt it; so will I gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you there, and melt you.
21 Yes, I will gather them in Jerusalem, build a fire under them, and melt them with my anger.
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Yes, I will gather you, and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it.
22 They will be melted in Jerusalem the way silver is melted in a furnace, and then they will know that they are feeling the anger of the Lord."
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As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall you be melted in the midst of it; and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have poured out my wrath on you.
23 The Lord spoke to me again.
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The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
24 "Mortal man," he said, "tell the Israelites that their land is unholy, and so I am punishing it in my anger.
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Son of man, tell her, You are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained on in the day of indignation.
25 The leaders are like lions roaring over the animals they have killed. They kill the people, take all the money and property they can get, and by their murders leave many widows.
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There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst of it, like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in the midst of it.
26 The priests break my law and have no respect for what is holy. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. They do not teach the difference between clean and unclean things, and they ignore the Sabbath. As a result the people of Israel do not respect me.
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Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
27 The government officials are like wolves tearing apart the animals they have killed. They commit murder in order to get rich.
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Her princes in the midst of it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, [and] to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.
28 The prophets have hidden these sins like workers covering a wall with whitewash. They see false visions and make false predictions. They claim to speak the word of the Sovereign Lord, but I, the Lord, have not spoken to them.
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Her prophets have daubed for them with whitewash, seeing false visions, and divining lies to them, saying, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, when Yahweh has not spoken.
29 The wealthy cheat and rob. They mistreat the poor and take advantage of foreigners.
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The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yes, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully.
30 I looked for someone who could build a wall, who could stand in the places where the walls have crumbled and defend the land when my anger is about to destroy it, but I could find no one.
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I sought for a man among them, who should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.
31 So I will turn my anger loose on them, and like a fire I will destroy them for what they have done." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.
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Therefore have I poured out my indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I brought on their heads, says the Lord Yahweh.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.