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22
The sins of the people of Jerusalem
1 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “You human, are you ready to condemn the people of Jerusalem? It is [RHQ] a city full of murderers [MTY]. Remind them of all the detestable things that they have done. 3 Then say, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: By your murdering people and by ◄defiling yourselves/making yourselves unacceptable to God► by making idols, you people of this city [APO] have brought to yourselves the time when you will be destroyed. 4 You have become guilty by doing both of those things [DOU]. You have brought to an end your time to remain alive [DOU]. Therefore I will cause you to become a group whom the people of other nations will scorn; they will all laugh at you [DOU]. 5 People in countries that are near you and people who live far from you will make fun of you, because your city is full of lawless people and full of confusion.
6 Think about how each of your Israeli kings have used their power to cause people to be murdered [MTY]. 7 Your people do not respect/honor their parents; they have oppressed foreigners; they mistreat orphans and widows. 8 You despise my sacred places and ◄dishonor/do not respect► the Sabbath days. 9 Among you are men who tell lies in order to cause others to be executed [MTY]. There are those who eat food offered to idols at the hilltop shrines, and they perform disgusting sexual acts. 10 There are men who have sex with their father's wives [EUP], and men who have sex with women during their monthly menstrual periods. 11 There are men who have sex with someone else's wife. Some men have sex with their daughters-in-law or with their sisters or half-sisters. 12 There are among you men who accept bribes in order to cause someone to be executed [MTY]. You charge high interest when you lend people money. You become rich by forcing people to give you money. And the worst thing is that you have forgotten me, Yahweh the Lord.
13 So I will shake my fists at you to show that I am angry with you because of your stealing money from people and murdering [MTY] people who live among you. 14 When I finish punishing you, you will no longer [RHQ] be courageous/brave [DOU]. I, Yahweh, have said what I will do to you, and I will do it. 15 I will cause you to be scattered among many nations [DOU], and I will cause you to stop your sinful behavior. 16 When the people of other nations see that you have been humiliated, you will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.’ ”
The people of Jerusalem must be purified
17 Yahweh also said to me, 18 “You human, your Israeli people [MTY] have become useless to me. They are like [MET] dross/slag to me. They are like [SIM] the useless copper, tin, iron, and lead that remains after silver is melted in a very hot furnace. 19 Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: Because you have all become like dross/slag, I will gather you in Jerusalem. 20 People put ore containing silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin in a very hot furnace and melt them in a blazing fire to burn up the impurities. Similarly [SIM], I will gather you together inside Jerusalem, and because I am very angry with you, what I will do will be as though I am melting you. 21 It will be as though I will blow on you with a hot breath that shows that I am very angry, and it will be as though you will be melted, 22 as though you will be melted like [SIM] silver is melted in a furnace, and then you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out my punishment [MTY] on you.”
The sins of the leaders in Jerusalem
23 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 24 “You human, say to the Israeli people, ‘When Yahweh is angry with you, there has been no rain or showers in your country.’ 25 Their leaders are like [SIM] lions that tear apart the animals that they have killed. The leaders destroy their people. They steal treasures and other valuable things from people, and they cause many women to become widows by murdering their husbands. 26 Their priests disobey my laws and disrespect my sacred things by saying that there is no difference between things that are sacred and those that are not sacred, and by ignoring my laws about honoring the Sabbath days. As a result, they no longer honor me. 27 Their officials are like [SIM] wolves that tear apart the animals that they have killed: They murder people [DOU] in order to get their money. 28 Their prophets, by falsely saying they have received visions from God, and by giving false messages, try to ◄cover up [MET]/say that it is all right to commit►those sins. They say, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says,’ when I have said nothing to them. 29 The Israeli people force others to give them money, and they rob people. They oppress poor [DOU] people, and they mistreat foreigners among them by not treating them fairly in the courts.
30 I looked among them to find a man who would cause the people of the city to repent [MET] so that I would not need to get rid of them. But I did not find anyone. 31 So because I am very angry with them, I will severely punish them [MTY] for all the wicked things that they have done. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh the Lord, have said it.”

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© 2008-2016 Ellis W. Deibler, Jr.