“So when you spread out your hands [in prayer, pleading for My help],
I will hide My eyes from you;
Yes, even though you offer many prayers,
I will not be listening.
Your hands are full of blood!
¶“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Get your evil deeds out of My sight.
Stop doing evil,
Learn to do good.
Seek justice,
Rebuke the ruthless,
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the [rights of the] widow [in court].
¶“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the LORD.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be like wool.
“If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the best of the land;
But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
¶How the faithful city has become a prostitute [idolatrous, despicable],
She who was full of justice!
Right standing with God once lodged in her,
But now murderers.
Your silver has turned to lead,
Your wine is diluted with water.
Your rulers are rebels
And companions of thieves;
Everyone loves bribes
And chases after gifts.
They do not defend the fatherless,
Nor does the widow’s cause come before them [instead they delay or turn a deaf ear].
¶Therefore the Lord GOD of hosts,
The Mighty One of Israel, declares:
“Ah, I will be freed of My adversaries
And avenge Myself on My enemies.
“And I will turn My hand against you,
And will [thoroughly] purge away your dross as with lye
And remove all your tin (impurity).
“Then I will restore your judges as at the first,
And your counselors as at the beginning;
Afterward you will be called the city of righteousness,
The faithful city.”
¶Zion will be redeemed with justice
And her repentant ones with righteousness.
But rebels and sinners will be crushed and destroyed together,
And those who abandon (turn away from) the LORD will be consumed (perish).
For you will be ashamed [of the degradation] of the oaks in which you took [idolatrous] pleasure,
And you will be ashamed of the gardens [of passion] which you have chosen [for pagan worship].
For you will be like an oak whose leaf withers and dies
And like a garden that has no water.
The strong man will become tinder,
And his work a spark.
So both will burn together
And there will be none to quench them.
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