“ Jerusalem, you are really impure. I tried to clean you up. But you would not let me make you pure. So you will not be clean again until I am no longer so angry with you.

在你污秽中有淫行，我洁净你，你却不洁净。你的污秽再不能洁净，直等我向你发的忿怒止息。

虽然我想洁净你污秽的淫行，你却不洁净，你的污秽再也不能洁净，直等我止息了向你发的愤怒。

虽然我想洁净你污秽的淫行，你却不洁净，你的污秽再也不能洁净，直等我止息了向你发的愤怒。

耶路撒冷啊，淫荡使你污秽不堪，我要洁净你，你却不愿被洁净。所以，除非我向你倾尽一切愤怒，否则你的污秽将不能清除。

你的污秽就是淫荡。我想要洁净你，你却不愿意洁净，所以你的污秽再不能得到洁净，直等到我向你发的烈怒止息。

在你污穢中有淫行，我潔淨你，你卻不潔淨。你的污穢再不能潔淨，直等我向你發的忿怒止息。

雖然我想潔淨你污穢的淫行，你卻不潔淨，你的污穢再也不能潔淨，直等我止息了向你發的憤怒。

雖然我想潔淨你污穢的淫行，你卻不潔淨，你的污穢再也不能潔淨，直等我止息了向你發的憤怒。

耶路撒冷啊，淫蕩使你污穢不堪，我要潔淨你，你卻不願被潔淨。所以，除非我向你傾盡一切憤怒，否則你的污穢將不能清除。

你的污穢就是淫蕩。我想要潔淨你，你卻不願意潔淨，所以你的污穢再不能得到潔淨，直等到我向你發的烈怒止息。

在你的污穢中有淫蕩那大罪惡極。因為我要潔淨你，而你卻不潔除你的污穢，那麼、非等到我平息了我向你發的烈怒，你是再也不能潔淨的了。

爾污而淫、我欲潔爾、爾不受潔、故爾污不得滌除、迨我怒息、

邑民行淫、至於污衊、我欲滌之、不肯成潔、故依然染污、待予降災、以雪我忿、

爾之邪淫、即爾之污穢、我欲淨爾污穢、爾不願得潔、故不復得潔、或作爾之污穢即邪淫我欲潔爾爾不願得潔故不復得潔爾之污穢待我降災於爾、以雪我忿、待我降災於爾以雪我忿或作待我洩盡我之烈怒於爾

“‘ Now your impurity is lewdness. Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided.

On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, you shall not be cleansed anymore till I have satisfied my fury upon you.

Your impurity is your lewdness and the corruption of your idolatry. I tried to cleanse you, but you refused. So now you will remain in your filth until my fury against you has been satisfied.

Because of the depravity of your uncleanness— since I tried to purify you, but you would not be purified from your uncleanness— you will not be pure again until I have satisfied my wrath on you.

In your filthiness is outrageous sin. Because I would have cleansed you, Yet you are not clean, You will not be cleansed from your filthiness again Until I have expended My wrath on you.

In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I have cleansed you, and you were not cleansed, You will not be cleansed of your filthiness anymore, Till I have caused My fury to rest upon you.

In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have cleansed thee and thou wast not cleansed, thou shalt not be cleansed from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my wrath toward thee to rest.

Because of the indecency of your uncleanness— since I tried to purify you, but you would not be purified from your uncleanness— you will not be pure again until I have satisfied My wrath on you.

In thy filthiness[ is] lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.

You mix uncleanness with obscene conduct. I tried to cleanse you, but you are not clean. You will not be cleansed from your uncleanness until I have exhausted my anger on you.

“‘“ In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I have cleansed you and you weren’t cleansed, you won’t be cleansed from your filthiness any more, until I have caused my wrath toward you to rest.

“ Son of man, speak to the land. Tell it,‘ You have not been washed clean with rain. That’s because I am angry with you.’

“ Then I will not be angry anymore. My great anger against them will die down. And I will be satisfied. Then they will know that I have spoken with strong feelings. And my great anger toward them will come to an end. I am the Lord.

They don’t obey anyone. They don’t accept the Lord’ s warnings. They don’t trust in him. They don’t ask their God for his help.

So I am angry with them. I will punish them. I will not spare them or feel sorry for them. They might even shout in my ears. But I will not listen to them.”

Then my great anger against you will die down. My jealous anger will turn away from you. I will be calm. I will not be angry anymore.

I would like to heal Israel. But when I try to, Ephraim’s sins are brought out into the open. The crimes of Samaria are made known to everyone. The people tell lies. They break into houses and steal. They rob others in the streets.

All of them are used to disobeying me. They go around telling lies about others. They are like bronze mixed with iron. All of them do very sinful things.The fire is made very hot so the lead will burn away. But it is impossible to make these people pure. Those who are evil are not removed.They are like silver that is thrown away. That is because I have not accepted them.”

Then set the empty pot on the coals. Let it get hot. Let its copper glow. Then what is not pure in it will melt. Its scum will be burned away.

People from other lands make them weaker and weaker. But they don’t realize it. Their hair is becoming gray. But they don’t even notice it.The pride of Israel proves that they are guilty. But in spite of everything, they don’t return to the Lord their God. They don’t go to him for help.The Lord says,“ The people of Ephraim are like a dove. They are easily tricked. They do not have any sense at all. First they call out to Egypt for help. Then they turn to Assyria.When they send for help, I will throw my net over them. I will capture them like the birds in the sky. When I hear them gathering like birds, I will catch them.How terrible it will be for them! They have wandered away from me. So they will be destroyed. That’s because they have refused to obey me. I long to save them. But they tell lies about me.They do not cry out to me from their hearts. Instead, they just lie on their beds and sob. They cut themselves when they pray to their gods for grain and fresh wine. But they turn away from me.I brought them up and made them strong. But they make evil plans against me.I am the Most High God. But they do not turn to me. They are like a bow that does not shoot straight. Their leaders will be killed by swords. They will die because they have spoken too proudly. The people of Egypt will make fun of them.”

Dear friends, we have these promises from God. So let us make ourselves pure from everything that makes our bodies and spirits impure. Let us be completely holy. We want to honor God.

Here is what I thought about Jerusalem.‘ Surely you will have respect for me. Surely you will accept my warning.’ Then the city you think is safe would not be destroyed. And I would not have to punish you so much. But they still wanted to go on sinning in every way they could.

But there are others who only look out for themselves. They don’t accept the truth. They go astray. God will pour out his great anger on them.There will be trouble and suffering for everyone who does evil. That is meant first for the Jews. It is also meant for the Gentiles.

Let the person who does wrong keep on doing wrong. Let the evil person continue to be evil. Let the person who does right keep on doing what is right. And let the holy person continue to be holy.”

“ I made sure your stomachs were empty in every city. You did not have enough bread in any of your towns. In spite of that, you still have not returned to me,” announces the Lord.“ I also held back rain from you. The time to harvest crops was still three months away. I sent rain on one town. But I held it back from another. One field had rain. But another had no rain and dried up.People wandered from town to town to look for water. But they did not get enough to drink. In spite of that, you still have not returned to me,” announces the Lord.“ Many times I kept your gardens and vineyards from growing. I sent hot winds to dry them up completely. Locusts ate up your fig and olive trees. In spite of that, you still have not returned to me,” announces the Lord.“ I sent plagues on you, just as I did on Egypt. I killed your young men by swords. I also let the horses you had captured be killed. I filled your noses with the stink of your camps. In spite of that, you still have not returned to me,” announces the Lord.“ I destroyed some of you, just as I did Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick that was pulled out of the fire. In spite of that, you still have not returned to me,” announces the Lord.“ So, people of Israel, I will judge you. Because I will do that to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God!”

And that’s not all. The people and all the leaders of the priests became more and more unfaithful. They followed all the practices of the nations. The Lord hated those practices. The people and leaders made the Lord’ s temple“ unclean.” The Lord had set the temple in Jerusalem apart in a special way for himself.The Lord, the God of Israel, sent word to his people through his messengers. He sent it to them again and again. He took pity on his people. He also took pity on the temple where he lived.But God’s people made fun of his messengers. They hated his words. They laughed at his prophets. Finally the Lord’ s great anger was stirred up against his people. Nothing could save them.

The Lord said to me,“ Son of man, are you going to judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then tell them they have done many evil things. I hate those things.They have committed adultery. Their hands are covered with the blood of the people they have murdered. They have worshiped other gods. They have not been faithful to me. They have even sacrificed their children as food to other gods. Those children belonged to me.Here are some other things the sisters have done to me. They have made my temple‘ unclean.’ They have misused my Sabbath days.They have sacrificed their children to their gods. On that same day they entered my temple and made it‘ unclean.’ That is what they have done in my house.“ They even sent messengers to bring men from far away. When the men arrived, Oholibah took a bath. She put makeup on her eyes. She put her jewelry on.She sat down on a beautiful couch. A table was in front of it. There she put the incense and olive oil that belonged to me.“ The noise of a carefree crowd was all around her. Men who drink too much were brought from the desert. Other men were brought along with them. They put bracelets on the wrists of the two sisters. They put beautiful crowns on their heads.Then I spoke about Oholibah. She was worn out by adultery. I said,‘ Let them use her as a prostitute. After all, that is what she is.’So they slept with her. In fact, they slept with both of these impure women, Oholah and Oholibah. They slept with them just as men sleep with prostitutes.But judges who are right with God will sentence the sisters to be punished. They will be punished in the same way as women who commit adultery and murder. After all, they have committed adultery. And their hands are covered with the blood of the people they have murdered.”The Lord and King says,“ Bring an angry crowd against the sisters. Hand them over to those who will terrify them and steal everything they have.The crowd will kill them by throwing stones at them. They will use swords to cut them down. They will kill their sons and daughters. And they will burn down their houses.“ So I will put an end to impurity in the land. Then all its women will be warned. They will not want to be like the sisters.

What more could I have done for my vineyard? I did everything I could. I kept looking for a crop of good grapes. So why did it produce only bad ones?Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard. I will take away its fence. And the vineyard will be destroyed. I will break down its wall. And people will walk all over my vineyard.I will turn my vineyard into a dry and empty desert. It will not be pruned or taken care of. Thorns and bushes will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”

So he went to the man who took care of the vineyard. He said,‘ For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree. But I haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’“‘ Sir,’ the man replied,‘ leave it alone for one more year. I’ll dig around it and feed it.If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ ”

But his people have not returned to the God who struck them down. They haven’t turned for help to the Lord who rules over all.So he will cut off from Israel heads and tails alike. In a single day he will cut off palm branches and tall grass alike. The palm branches are the people who rule over others. The tall grass is the people who bow down to them.The elders and important leaders are the heads. The prophets who teach lies are the tails.Those who guide the people of Israel are leading them down the wrong path. So those who follow them aren’t on the right road.The Lord will not be pleased with the young men. He won’t take pity on widows and on children whose fathers have died. All of them are ungodly and evil. They say foolish things with their mouths. Even then, the Lord is still angry. His hand is still raised against them.

“ I have heard the groans of Ephraim’s people. They say,‘ You corrected us like a calf you were training. And we have been trained. Bring us back to you, and we will come back. You are the Lord our God.

“ Jerusalem! Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and throw stones in order to kill those who are sent to you. Many times I have wanted to gather your people together. I have wanted to be like a hen who gathers her chicks under her wings. And you would not let me!Look, your house is left empty.

“ For 23 years the Lord’ s messages have been coming to me. They began to come in the 13th year that Josiah was king of Judah. He was the son of Amon. The Lord’ s messages still come to me today. I’ve spoken to you people again and again. But you haven’t listened to me.“ The Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you. They’ve come to you again and again. But you haven’t listened. You haven’t paid any attention to them.They said,‘ Each of you must turn from your evil ways and practices. Then you can stay in the land forever. It’s the land the Lord gave you and your people of long ago.Don’t follow other gods. Don’t serve them or worship them. Don’t make the Lord angry with the gods your own hands have made. Then he won’t harm you.’“‘ But you did not listen to me,’ announces the Lord.‘ You have made me very angry with the gods your hands have made. And you have brought harm on yourselves.’