New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 Now this message came to me from the LORD :
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God's Message came to me:
2 “Son of man, are you ready to judge Jerusalem? Are you ready to judge this city of murderers? Publicly denounce her detestable sins,
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"Son of man, are you going to judge this bloody city or not? Come now, are you going to judge her? Do it! Face her with all her outrageous obscenities.
3 and give her this message from the Sovereign LORD : O city of murderers, doomed and damned—city of idols, filthy and foul—
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Tell her, 'This is what God, the Master, says: You're a city murderous at the core, just asking for punishment. You're a city obsessed with no-god idols, making yourself filthy.
4 you are guilty because of the blood you have shed. You are defiled because of the idols you have made. Your day of destruction has come! You have reached the end of your years. I will make you an object of mockery throughout the world.
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In all your killing, you've piled up guilt. In all your idol-making, you've become filthy. You've forced a premature end to your existence. I'll put you on exhibit as the scarecrow of the nations, the world's worst joke.
5 O infamous city, filled with confusion, you will be mocked by people far and near.
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From far and near they'll deride you as infamous in filth, notorious for chaos.
6 “Every leader in Israel who lives within your walls is bent on murder.
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"'Your leaders, the princes of Israel among you, compete in crime.
7 Fathers and mothers are treated with contempt. Foreigners are forced to pay for protection. Orphans and widows are wronged and oppressed among you.
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You're a community that's insolent to parents, abusive to outsiders, oppressive against orphans and widows.
8 You despise my holy things and violate my Sabbath days of rest.
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You treat my holy things with contempt and desecrate my Sabbaths.
9 People accuse others falsely and send them to their death. You are filled with idol worshipers and people who do obscene things.
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You have people spreading lies and spilling blood, flocking to the hills to the sex shrines and fornicating unrestrained.
10 Men sleep with their fathers’ wives and force themselves on women who are menstruating.
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Incest is common. Men force themselves on women regardless of whether they're ready or willing.
11 Within your walls live men who commit adultery with their neighbors’ wives, who defile their daughters-in-law, or who rape their own sisters.
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Sex is now anarchy. Anyone is fair game: neighbor, daughter-in-law, sister.
12 There are hired murderers, loan racketeers, and extortioners everywhere. They never even think of me and my commands, says the Sovereign LORD .
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Murder is for hire, usury is rampant, extortion is commonplace. "'And you've forgotten me. Decree of God, the Master.
13 “But now I clap my hands in indignation over your dishonest gain and bloodshed.
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"'Now look! I've clapped my hands, calling everyone's attention to your rapacious greed and your bloody brutalities.
14 How strong and courageous will you be in my day of reckoning? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do what I said.
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Can you stick with it? Will you be able to keep at this once I start dealing with you?
15 I will scatter you among the nations and purge you of your wickedness.
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I'll throw you to the four winds. I'll scatter you all over the world. I'll put a full stop to your filthy living.
16 And when I have been dishonored among the nations because of you, you will know that I am the LORD .”
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You will be defiled, spattered with your own mud in the eyes of the nations. And you'll recognize that I am God.'"
17 Then this message came to me from the LORD :
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God's Message came to me:
18 “Son of man, the people of Israel are the worthless slag that remains after silver is smelted. They are the dross that is left over—a useless mixture of copper, tin, iron, and lead.
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"Son of man, the people of Israel are slag to me, the useless byproduct of refined copper, tin, iron, and lead left at the smelter - a worthless slag heap.
19 So tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you are all worthless slag, I will bring you to my crucible in Jerusalem.
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So tell them, 'God, the Master, has spoken: Because you've all become worthless slag, you're on notice: I'll assemble you in Jerusalem.
20 Just as silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin are melted down in a furnace, I will melt you down in the heat of my fury.
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As men gather silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into a furnace and blow fire on it to melt it down, so in my wrath I'll gather you and melt you down.
21 I will gather you together and blow the fire of my anger upon you,
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I'll blow on you with the fire of my wrath to melt you down in the furnace.
22 and you will melt like silver in fierce heat. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out my fury on you.’”
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As silver is melted down, you'll be melted down. That should get through to you. Then you'll recognize that I, God, have let my wrath loose on you.'"
23 Again a message came to me from the LORD :
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God's Message came to me:
24 “Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: In the day of my indignation, you will be like a polluted land, a land without rain.
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"Son of man, tell her, 'You're a land that during the time I was angry with you got no rain, not so much as a spring shower.
25 Your princes plot conspiracies just as lions stalk their prey. They devour innocent people, seizing treasures and extorting wealth. They make many widows in the land.
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The leaders among you became desperate, like roaring, ravaging lions killing indiscriminately. They grabbed and looted, leaving widows in their wake.
26 Your priests have violated my instructions and defiled my holy things. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. And they do not teach my people the difference between what is ceremonially clean and unclean. They disregard my Sabbath days so that I am dishonored among them.
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"'Your priests violated my law and desecrated my holy things. They can't tell the difference between sacred and secular. They tell people there's no difference between right and wrong. They're contemptuous of my holy Sabbaths, profaning me by trying to pull me down to their level.
27 Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually destroy people’s lives for money!
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Your politicians are like wolves prowling and killing and rapaciously taking whatever they want.
28 And your prophets cover up for them by announcing false visions and making lying predictions. They say, ‘My message is from the Sovereign LORD,’ when the LORD hasn’t spoken a single word to them.
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Your preachers cover up for the politicians by pretending to have received visions and special revelations. They say, "This is what God, the Master, says . . ." when God hasn't said so much as one word.
29 Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and deprive foreigners of justice.
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Extortion is rife, robbery is epidemic, the poor and needy are abused, outsiders are kicked around at will, with no access to justice.'
30 “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one.
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"I looked for someone to stand up for me against all this, to repair the defenses of the city, to take a stand for me and stand in the gap to protect this land so I wouldn't have to destroy it. I couldn't find anyone. Not one.
31 So now I will pour out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my anger. I will heap on their heads the full penalty for all their sins. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”
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So I'll empty out my wrath on them, burn them to a crisp with my hot anger, serve them with the consequences of all they've done. Decree of God, the Master."
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.