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.
20-21. I will be like a metalworker who collects that metal from the furnace and melts it down. I will collect the Israelites and blow on them with my fiery anger. They will melt inside the city of Jerusalem
22. like silver in a furnace. Then they will know that I, the Lord, have punished them in my anger.
23. The Lord said:
24. Ezekiel, son of man, tell the people of Israel that their country is full of sin, and that I, the Lord, am furious!
25. Their leaders are like roaring lions, tearing apart their victims. They put people to death, then steal everything of value. Husbands are killed, and many women are left as widows.
26. The priests of Israel ignore my Law! Not only do they refuse to respect any of my sacred things, but they don't even teach the difference between what is sacred and what is ordinary, or between what is clean and what is unclean. They treat my Sabbath like any other day, and so my own people no longer honour me.
27. Israel's officials are like ferocious wolves, ripping their victims apart. They make a dishonest living by injuring and killing people.
28. And then the prophets in Israel cover up these sins by giving false visions. I have never spoken to them, but they lie and say they have a message from me.
29. The people themselves cheat and rob; they abuse the poor and take advantage of foreigners.
30. I looked for someone to defend the city and to protect it from my anger, as well as to stop me from destroying it. But I found no one.