"Son of man, are you going to judge Jerusalem? Will you judge this city that has so many murderers in it? Then tell its people they have done many evil things. I hate those things.
Tell them, 'The Lord and King says, "Your city brings death on itself. You spill blood inside its walls. You pollute yourselves by making statues of gods.
You are guilty of spilling blood. The statues you have made have polluted you. " ' "You have brought your days to a close. The end of your years has come. So the nations will make fun of you. All of the countries will laugh at you.
They have made fun of fathers and mothers alike. They have crushed outsiders. They have treated badly the children whose fathers have died. They have done the same thing to widows.
" ' "You bring shame on your fathers by having sex with their wives. You have sex with women during their monthly period. That is when they are 'unclean.'
One of you has sex with another man's wife. I hate that sin. Another brings shame on his daughter-in-law by having sex with her. Still another has sex with his sister, even though she is his own father's daughter.
" ' "You accept money from people who want special favors. You do it to spill someone's blood. You charge too much interest when you lend money. You get rich by cheating your neighbors. And you have forgotten me," announces the Lord and King.
"Son of man, the people of Israel have become like scum to me. All of them are like the copper, tin, iron and lead that are left inside a furnace. They are only the scum that is removed from silver."
Men put silver, copper, iron, lead and tin into a furnace. They melt it with a blazing fire. In the same way, I will gather you. I will pour out my burning anger on you. I will put you inside the city and melt you.
Silver is melted in a furnace. And you will be melted inside the city. Then you will know that I have poured out my burning anger on you. I am the Lord."
"Ezekiel, the princes of the land are like a roaring lion that tears its food apart. They eat people up. They take treasures and other valuable things. They cause many women in the land to become widows.
"Its priests break my law. They treat things that are set apart to me as if they were not holy. They treat holy and common things as if they were the same. They teach that there is no difference between things that are 'clean' and things that are not. They refuse to keep my Sabbath days. So they treat me as if I were not holy.
The prophets cover up those acts for them. The visions of those prophets are false. They use magic to try to find out what is going to happen. But their magic tricks are lies. They say, 'The Lord and King says,' But I have not spoken to them.
"The people of the land get rich by cheating others. They steal. They crush those who are poor and in need. They treat outsiders badly. They refuse to be fair to them.
"I looked for a man among them who would stand up for Jerusalem. I tried to find someone who would pray to me for the land. Then I would not have to destroy it. But I could not find anyone who would pray for it.
So I will pour out my anger on its people. I will destroy them because my anger burns against them. And anything that happens to them will be their own fault," announces the Lord and King.