וַיְהִי דְבַר־ה' אֵלַי לֵאמֹר

The word of the Lord was with me, saying:

וְאַתָּה בֶן־אָדָם הֲתִשְׁפֹּט הֲתִשְׁפֹּט אֶת־עִיר הַדָּמִים וְהוֹדַעְתָּהּ אֵת כָּל־תּוֹעֲבוֹתֶיהָ!

You, Son of man, will you judge, will you wish to judge the city of bloodshed? Inform it, the city, of all its abominations.

וְאָמַרְתָּ כֹּה אָמַר ה' אֱלוֹהִים עִיר שֹׁפֶכֶת דָּם בְּתוֹכָהּ לָבוֹא עִתָּהּ ועָשְׂתָה גִלּוּלִים עָלֶיהָ לְטָמְאָה

You shall say to it: So said the Lord God: City that sheds blood in its midst and makes that its end time may come, and that crafted idols within itself for its own defilement:

בְּדָמֵךְ אֲשֶׁר־שָׁפַכְתְּ אָשַׁמְתְּ וּבְגִלּוּלַיִךְ אֲשֶׁר־עָשִׂית טָמֵאת וַתַּקְרִיבִי יָמַיִךְ וַתָּבוֹא עַד־שְׁנוֹתָיִךְ עַל־כֵּן נְתַתִּיךְ חֶרְפָּה לַגּוֹיִם וְקַלָּסָה לְכָל־הָאֲרָצוֹת

Through your blood that you shed you became guilty, and with your idols that you crafted you were defiled. You thus brought the end of your days near, and you came to the conclusion of your years. Therefore, I rendered you a disgrace to the nations and an object of derision to all the countries.

הַקְּרֹבוֹת וְהָרְחֹקוֹת מִמֵּךְ יִתְקַלְּסוּ־בָךְ טְמֵאַת הַשֵּׁם רַבַּת הַמְּהוּמָה

Those who are near and those who are far from you will deride you, you of ill repute, and the wild city, great of tumult.

הִנֵּה נְשִׂיאֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אִישׁ לזְרֹעוֹ הָיוּ בָךְ לְמַעַן שְׁפָךְ־דָּם

Behold, the princes of Israel, the kings of Judah. Each by relying on his might has been within you, city, in order to shed blood. Your kings are belligerent and aggressive.

אָב וָאֵם הֵקַלּוּ בָךְ לַגֵּר עָשׂוּ בַעֹשֶׁק בְּתוֹכֵךְ יָתוֹם וְאַלְמָנָה הוֹנוּ בָךְ

They demeaned father and mother within you. They engaged in the exploitation of the stranger in your midst. They mistreated the orphan and the widow among you. Not only have they not supported those unfortunate people, but they have actively harassed and cheated them.

קָדָשַׁי בָּזִית וְאֶת־שַׁבְּתֹתַי חִלָּלְתְּ

That city of Jerusalem, which is sacred to Me, you scorned, and My Sabbaths you profaned.

אַנְשֵׁי רָכִיל הָיוּ בָךְ לְמַעַן שְׁפֹךְ־דָּם וְאֶל הֶהָרִים אָכְלוּ בָךְ זִמָּה עָשׂוּ בְתוֹכֵךְ

Gossipmongers were within you, who slandered in order to cause people to shed the blood of those about whom they spoke. Among you, they, those who bring offerings to idols, ate upon the mountains, where they typically performed their rites. This phrase can also mean that their religious attention was toward the mountains, which were themselves objects of worship. Not only have they murdered and worshipped idols, but lewdness was also performed in your midst.

עֶרְוַת־אָב גִּלָּה־בָךְ טְמֵאַת הַנִּדָּה עִנּוּ־בָךְ

One uncovered a father’s nakedness within you, meaning that they sinned with the wives of their fathers. They raped the impure menstruant among you.

וְאִישׁ אֶת אֵשֶׁת רֵעֵהוּ עָשָׂה תּוֹעֵבָה וְאִישׁ אֶת־כַּלָּתוֹ טִמֵּא בְזִמָּה וְאִישׁ אֶת־אֲחֹתוֹ בַת־אָבִיו עִנָּה־בָךְ

One committed an abomination with his neighbor’s wife, and one defiled his daughter-in-law with lewdness, and one raped [ina] his sister, the daughter of his father, among you.

שֹׁחַד לָקְחוּ־בָךְ לְמַעַן שְׁפָךְ־דָּם נֶשֶׁךְ וְתַרְבִּית לָקַחַתְּ וַתְּבַצְּעִי רֵעַיִךְ בּעֹשֶׁק וְאֹתִי שָׁכַחַתְּ נְאֻם ה' אֱלוֹהִים

Bribery was taken by the judges among you to shed blood, to protect murderers or justify murder. You took interest and increase (see commentary on 18:8). You enriched your neighbors through money that came from exploitation. Alternatively, this means that you broke down your neighbors by oppressing them. And you forgot Me, who warned you about all these sins – the utterance of the Lord God.

וְהִנֵּה הִכֵּיתִי כַפִּי אֶל בִּצְעֵךְ אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂית וְעַל־דָּמֵךְ אֲשֶׁר הָיוּ בְּתוֹכֵךְ

Behold, I have struck My hand, as an expression of suffering and pain, at your ill-gotten gain that you made and at your bloodshed, which was in your midst.

הֲיַעֲמֹד לִבֵּךְ! אִם־תֶּחֱזַקְנָה יָדַיִךְ לַיָּמִים אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי עֹשֶׂה אוֹתָךְ אֲנִי ה' דִּבַּרְתִּי וְעָשִׂיתִי

Will your heart endure your impending suffering, will your hands be strong enough on the days that I will prepare to deal with you with vengeance? You will be utterly destroyed. I, the Lord, have spoken, and will act on this.

וַהֲפִיצוֹתִי אוֹתָךְ בַּגּוֹיִם וְזֵרִיתִיךְ בָּאֲרָצוֹת וַהֲתִמֹּתִי טֻמְאָתֵךְ מִמֵּךְ

Then I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you among the lands, and I will eliminate your impurity from you, perhaps by means of your dispersion.

וְנִחַלְתְּ בָּךְ לְעֵינֵי גוֹיִם וְיָדַעַתְּ כִּי־אֲנִי ה'

You will profane yourself, you will realize on your own that you are profaned before the eyes of the nations, and then you will know that I am the Lord.

וַיְהִי דְבַר־ה' אֵלַי לֵאמֹר

The word of the Lord was with me, saying:

בֶּן־אָדָם הָיוּ־לִי בֵית־יִשְׂרָאֵל לְסִיג כֻּלָּם נְחֹשֶׁת וּבְדִיל וּבַרְזֶל וְעוֹפֶרֶת בְּתוֹךְ כּוּר סִיגִים כֶּסֶף הָיוּ

Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; they are all like copper, tin, iron, and lead inside a crucible; they have become the dross of silver. Israel has become a polluting, contaminating substance.

לָכֵן כֹּה אָמַר ה' אֱלוֹהִים יַעַן הֱיוֹת כֻּלְּכֶם לְסִגִים לָכֵן הִנְנִי קֹבֵץ אֶתְכֶם אֶל־תּוֹךְ יְרוּשָׁלִַם

Therefore, so said the Lord God: Because all of you are dross, therefore, behold, I am gathering you into the midst of Jerusalem.

קְבֻצַת כֶּסֶף וּנְחֹשֶׁת וּבַרְזֶל וְעוֹפֶרֶת וּבְדִיל אֶל־תּוֹךְ כּוּר לָפַחַת עָלָיו אֵשׁ לְהַנְתִּיךְ כֵּן אֶקְבֹּץ בְּאַפִּי וּבַחֲמָתִי וְהִנַּחְתִּי וְהִתַּכְתִּי אֶתְכֶם

Like the gathering of silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into a crucible, where the dross is separated from the metals, to fan the fire upon it to melt it, so will I gather you in My wrath and in My fury to the crucible of Jerusalem, and I will set you down and melt you and remove the dross. The city’s government and social structure, and the rest of its institutions, will entirely crumble away.

וְכִנַּסְתִּי אֶתְכֶם וְנָפַחְתִּי עֲלֵיכֶם בְּאֵשׁ עֶבְרָתִי וְנִתַּכְתֶּם בְּתוֹכָהּ

God reiterates: I will gather you and blow upon you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in its, Jerusalem’s, midst.

כְּהִתּוּךְ כֶּסֶף בְּתוֹךְ כּוּר כֵּן תֻּתְּכוּ בְתוֹכָהּ וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי־אֲנִי ה' שָׁפַכְתִּי חֲמָתִי עֲלֵיכֶם

Like the melting of silver within a crucible, so will you be melted within it, and you will know that I, the Lord, have poured My wrath upon you.

וַיְהִי דְבַר־ה' אֵלַי לֵאמֹר

The word of the Lord was with me, saying:

בֶּן־אָדָם אֱמָר־לָהּ אַתְּ אֶרֶץ לֹא מְטֹהָרָה הִיא לֹא גֻשְׁמָהּ בְּיוֹם זָעַם

Son of man, say to it, Jerusalem: You are a land that has not been purified, that has not been rained upon on the day of fury. No rain has fallen upon you to wash away your filth, and you remain impure even after you have received your punishment.

קֶשֶׁר נְבִיאֶיהָ בְּתוֹכָהּ כַּאֲרִי שׁוֹאֵג טֹרֵף טָרֶף נֶפֶשׁ אָכָלוּ חֹסֶן וִיקָר יִקָּחוּ אַלְמְנוֹתֶיהָ הִרְבּוּ בְתוֹכָהּ

A conspiracy of its false prophets is in its midst. Alternatively, this can be understood as meaning that there is a band of false prophets, not necessarily organized, who seek to strengthen the status quo, and to that end they reaffirm the opinions of the leadership and the general populace, thereby becoming like a roaring lion that mauls prey. They have consumed, ruined, lives; they have taken others’ treasure and precious items, or their honor; and they have multiplied its widows in its midst, as their husbands died at the hands of the enemy after following the instructions of those prophets.

כֹּהֲנֶיהָ חָמְסוּ תוֹרָתִי וַיְחַלְּלוּ קָדָשַׁי בֵּין־קֹדֶשׁ לְחֹל לֹא הִבְדִּילוּ וּבֵין־הַטָּמֵא לְטָהוֹר לֹא הוֹדִיעוּ וּמִשַּׁבְּתוֹתַי הֶעְלִימוּ עֵינֵיהֶם וָאֵחַל בְּתוֹכָם

Its priests, traditionally the ones who taught the people Torah, have been villainous to My Torah, as they corrupted the words of the Torah or they stole My law from the people. And they profaned that which is sacred to Me; between sacred and profane they did not distinguish, that which is between the impure and the pure they did not make known, and they averted their eyes from My Sabbaths. All these distinctions were unimportant in their eyes, and I was profaned among them. The priests became a band of greedy, lustful men, who disparaged the sacred through their behavior.

שָׂרֶיהָ בְקִרְבָּהּ כִּזְאֵבִים טֹרְפֵי טָרֶף לִשְׁפָּךְ־דָּם לְאַבֵּד נְפָשׁוֹת לְמַעַן בְּצֹעַ בָּצַע

Its princes, political leaders, in its midst are like wolves mauling prey: They want to shed blood, to destroy lives, directly or indirectly, in order to attain ill-gotten gain.

וּנְבִיאֶיהָ טָחוּ לָהֶם תָּפֵל חֹזִים שָׁוְא וְקֹסְמִים לָהֶם כָּזָב אֹמְרִים כֹּה אָמַר ה' אֱלוֹהִים וַה' לֹא דִבֵּר

But its, Jerusalem’s, prophets, instead of pointing out the cracks in the city walls and raising awareness of its breaches, so to speak, plastered over them with insubstantial plaster which will not last, covering up the city’s failings, because they are envisioning that which is vain and divining falsehood for them, saying to the people: So said the Lord God, and the Lord did not speak.

עַם הָאָרֶץ עָשְׁקוּ עֹשֶׁק וְגָזְלוּ גָּזֵל וְעָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן הוֹנוּ וְאֶת־הַגֵּר עָשְׁקוּ בְּלֹא מִשְׁפָּט

Not only are the spiritual and political leaders at fault, but even the common people of the land have performed exploitation, committed robbery, mistreated, cheated, and brought suffering upon the poor and indigent, and exploited the stranger without justice.

וָאֲבַקֵּשׁ מֵהֶם אִישׁ גֹּדֵר־גָּדֵר וְעֹמֵד בַּפֶּרֶץ לְפָנַי בְּעַד הָאָרֶץ לְבִלְתִּי שַׁחֲתָהּ וְלֹא מָצָאתִי

I sought among them a man who acts in the opposite manner, who builds a fence and stands in the breach before Me for the sake of the land so that it should not be destroyed, but I did not find. There was not a single person in Jerusalem whose merit could protect the city.

וָאֶשְׁפֹּךְ עֲלֵיהֶם זַעְמִי בְּאֵשׁ עֶבְרָתִי כִּלִּיתִים דַּרְכָּם בְּרֹאשָׁם נָתַתִּי נְאֻם ה' אֱלוֹהִים

Thus, I poured My fury upon them; with the fire of My wrath I consumed them. The punishment for their way I placed upon their heads – the utterance of the Lord God.