Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 362
350
IMMERSE
•
PROPHETS
22:13-31
“But now I clap my hands in indignation over your dishonest gain and
bloodshed. How strong and courageous will you be in my day of reckon
ing? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do what I said. I will scatter you
among the nations and purge you of your wickedness. And when I have
been dishonored among the nations because of you, you will know that I
am the Lord.”
Then this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, the people
of Israel are the worthless slag that remains after silver is smelted. They are
the dross that is left over—a useless mixture of copper, tin, iron, and lead.
So tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you are all
worthless slag, I will bring you to my crucible in Jerusalem. Just as silver,
copper, iron, lead, and tin are melted down in a furnace, I will melt you
down in the heat of my fury. I will gather you together and blow the fire of
my anger upon you, and you will melt like silver in fierce heat. Then you
will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my fury on you.’”
Again a message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, give the people
of Israel this message: In the day of my indignation, you will be like a
polluted land, a land without rain. Your princes plot conspiracies just as
lions stalk their prey. They devour innocent people, seizing treasures and
extorting wealth. They make many widows in the land. Your priests have
violated my instructions and defiled my holy things. They make no dis
tinction between what is holy and what is not. And they do not teach my
people the difference between what is ceremonially clean and unclean.
They disregard my Sabbath days so that I am dishonored among them.
Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually
destroy people’s lives for money! And your prophets cover up for them by
announcing false visions and making lying predictions. They say, ‘My mes
sage is from the Sovereign Lord,’ when the Lord hasn’t spoken a single
word to them. Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and
deprive foreigners of justice.
“I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that
guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall
so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one. So now I will
pour out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my anger. I
will heap on their heads the full penalty for all their sins. I, the Sovereign
Lord, have spoken!”
