³ And you shall say, ‘This is what the Lord ^[a]God says: “A city ^(A)shedding blood in her midst, so that her time is coming; and a city that makes idols, contrary to her own good, for defilement! ⁴ You have become ^(B)guilty by ^[b]the blood which you have shed, and you have become defiled by your idols which you have made. So you have brought your days closer and have come to your years; therefore I have made you a ^(C)disgrace to the nations, and an object of mocking to all the lands. ⁵ Those who are near and those who are far from you will make fun of you, you of ill repute, full of ^(D)turmoil.

⁶ “Behold, the ^(E)rulers of Israel, each according to his ^[c]power, have been among you for the purpose of shedding blood. ⁷ They have ^(F)treated father and mother with contempt among you. They have oppressed the ^(G)stranger in your midst; they have oppressed the ^(H)orphan and the widow among you. ⁸ You have ^(I)despised My holy things and ^(J)profaned My Sabbaths. ⁹ Slanderous men have been among you for the purpose of shedding blood, and among you they have eaten at the mountain shrines. In your midst they have ^(K)committed outrageous sin. ¹⁰ Among you ^[d]they have ^(L)uncovered their fathers’ nakedness; among you they have abused her who was ^(M)unclean in her menstruation. ¹¹ And one has committed abomination with his ^(N)neighbor’s wife, another has outrageously defiled his ^(O)daughter-in-law, and another among you has sexually ^(P)abused his sister, his father’s daughter. ¹² Among you they have ^(Q)taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken ^[e](R)interest, you have injured your neighbors by ^(S)oppression, and you have ^(T)forgotten Me,” declares the Lord God.

²⁵ There is a ^(A)conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have ^(B)devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many ^(C)widows in the midst of her. ²⁶ Her ^(D)priests have done violence to My Law and have ^(E)profaned My holy things; they have made no ^(F)distinction between the holy and the ^[a]common, and they have not taught the difference between the ^(G)unclean and the clean; and they have closed their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am defiled among them. ²⁷ Her leaders within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and ^(H)destroying lives in order to make ^(I)dishonest profit. ²⁸ And her prophets have coated with whitewash for them, seeing ^(J)false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ when the Lord has not spoken. ²⁹ The people of the land have practiced ^(K)extortion and committed robbery, and they have oppressed the poor and needy, and have ^(L)oppressed the stranger without justice. ³⁰ I ^(M)searched for a man among them who would ^(N)build up a wall and ^(O)stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found ^[b]no one.