On that day you will be able to speak again; ¹  you will talk with the fugitive and be silent no longer. You will be an object lesson for them, and they will know that I am the Lord.”

As silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin are gathered in a furnace so that the fire can melt them, so I will gather you in my anger and in my rage. I will deposit you there ¹  and melt you.

Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must trample the rest of your pastures with your feet? When you drink clean water, must you muddy the rest of the water by trampling it with your feet?

and come from your place, from the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a vast army.

I will break down the wall you coated with whitewash and knock it to the ground so that its foundation is exposed. When it falls you will be destroyed beneath it, ¹  and you will know that I am the Lord.

Have you not copied their behavior ¹  and practiced their abominable deeds? In a short time ²  you became even more depraved in all your conduct than they were!

You must bear your punishment for your obscene conduct and your abominable practices, declares the Lord.

The sticks you write on will be in your hand in front of them.

You also took your beautiful jewelry, made of my gold and my silver I had given to you, and made for yourself male images and engaged in prostitution ¹  with them.

Your older sister was Samaria, who lived north ¹  of you with her daughters, and your younger sister, who lived south ²  of you, was Sodom ³  with her daughters.

As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so will I deal with you – you will be desolate, Mount Seir, and all of Edom – all of it! Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”

So now, bear your disgrace, because you have given your sisters reason to justify their behavior. ¹  Because the sins you have committed were more abominable than those of your sisters; they have become more righteous than you. So now, be ashamed and bear the disgrace of making your sisters appear righteous.

When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you must certainly die,’ ¹  and you do not warn ²  the wicked about his behavior, ³  the wicked man will die for his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death. ⁴ 

“‘What you plan ¹  will never happen. You say, “We will be ²  like the nations, like the clans of the lands, who serve gods of wood and stone.” ³ 

“Therefore, as surely as I live, says the sovereign Lord, because you defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominable practices, I will withdraw; my eye will not pity you, nor will I spare ¹  you.

You must speak my words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.

“‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: “‘I will throw my net over you ¹  in the assembly of many peoples; and they will haul you up in my dragnet.

But you, son of man, do not fear them, and do not fear their words – even though briers ¹  and thorns ²  surround you and you live among scorpions – do not fear their words and do not be terrified of the looks they give you, ³  for they are a rebellious house!

They will burn down your houses and execute judgments on you in front of many women. Thus I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer give gifts to your clients. ¹ 

However, if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he ¹  does not sin, he will certainly live because he was warned, and you will have saved your own life.”