1. Some time later, the Lord said:
2. Ezekiel, son of man, are you ready to condemn Jerusalem? That city is filled with murderers, so remind the people of their sins
3. and tell them I am saying:Jerusalem, you have murdered many of your own people and have worshipped idols. You will soon be punished!
4. Those crimes have made you guilty, and the idols have made you unacceptable to me. So your final punishment is near. Other nations will laugh at you and make insulting remarks,
5. and people far and near will make fun of your misery.
6. Your own leaders use their power to murder.
7. None of you honour your parents, and you cheat foreigners, orphans, and widows.
8. You show no respect for my sacred places and treat the Sabbath just like any other day.
9. Some of your own people tell lies, so that others will be put to death. Some of you eat meat sacrificed to idols at local shrines, and others never stop doing vulgar things.
10. Men have sex with their father's wife or with women who are having their monthly period
11. or with someone else's wife. Some men even sleep with their own daughter-in-law or half-sister.
12. Others of you accept money to murder someone. Your own people charge high interest when making a loan to other Israelites, and they get rich by cheating. Worst of all, you have forgotten me, the Lord God.
13. I will shake my fist in anger at your violent crimes.
14. When I've finished with you, your courage will disappear, and you will be so weak that you won't be able to lift your hands. I, the Lord, have spoken and will not change my mind.
15. I will scatter you throughout every nation on earth and put a stop to your sinful ways.
16. You will be humiliated in the eyes of other nations. Then you will know that I, the Lord God, have done these things.
17. The Lord said:
18. Ezekiel, son of man, I consider the people of Israel as worthless as the leftover metal in a furnace after silver has been purified.
19. So I am going to bring them together in Jerusalem.