The Unfaithful City
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a How the faithful city has become a harlot!
It was full of justice;
Righteousness lodged in it,
But now b murderers.
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c Your silver has become dross,
Your wine mixed with water.
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d Your princes are rebellious,
And e companions of thieves;
f Everyone loves bribes,
And follows after rewards.
They g do not defend the fatherless,
Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.
24
Therefore the Lord says,
The LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel,
"Ah, h I will rid Myself of My adversaries,
And take vengeance on My enemies.
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I will turn My hand against you,
And i thoroughly purge away your dross,
And take away all your alloy.
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I will restore your judges j as at the first,
And your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward k you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city."
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Zion shall be redeemed with justice,
And her penitents with righteousness.
28
The l destruction of transgressors and of sinners shall be together,
And those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
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For they shall be ashamed of the terebinth trees
Which you have desired;
And you shall be embarrassed because of the gardens
Which you have chosen.
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For you shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fades,
And as a garden that has no water.
31
m The strong shall be as tinder,
And the work of it as a spark;
Both will burn together,
And no one shall n quench them.
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Cross References
Isaiah 57:3 - 9
But come here, You sons of the sorceress, You offspring of the adulterer and the harlot!
Jeremiah 2:20
For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; And you said, 'I will not transgress,' When on every high hill and under every green tree You lay down, playing the harlot.
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Cross References
Micah 3:1 - 3
And I said: "Hear now, O heads of Jacob, And you rulers of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know justice?
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Cross References
Jeremiah 6:28
They are all stubborn rebels, walking as slanderers. They are bronze and iron, They are all corrupters.
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Cross References
Hosea 9:15
All their wickedness is in Gilgal, For there I hated them. Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them from My house; I will love them no more. All their princes are rebellious.
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Cross References
Proverbs 29:24
Whoever is a partner with a thief hates his own life; He swears to tell the truth, but reveals nothing.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 22:17
"Yet your eyes and your heart are for nothing but your covetousness, For shedding innocent blood, And practicing oppression and violence."
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Cross References
Isaiah 10:2
To rob the needy of justice, And to take what is right from the poor of My people, That widows may be their prey, And that they may rob the fatherless.
Jeremiah 5:28
They have grown fat, they are sleek; Yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the fatherless; Yet they prosper, And the right of the needy they do not defend.
Ezekiel 22:7
In you they have made light of father and mother; in your midst they have oppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow.
Zechariah 7:10
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, The alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart Against his brother.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 28:63
And it shall be, that just as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess.
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Cross References
Isaiah 48:10
Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
Ezekiel 22:19 - 22
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
Malachi 3:3
He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the LORD An offering in righteousness.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 33:7 - 11
And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places as at the first.
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Cross References
Isaiah 33:5
The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
Zechariah 8:3
"Thus says the LORD: 'I will return to Zion, And dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, The Mountain of the LORD of hosts, The Holy Mountain.'
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Cross References
Job 31:3
Is it not destruction for the wicked, And disaster for the workers of iniquity?
Psalms 9:5
You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
Isaiah 66:24
"And they shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh."
2 Thessalonians 1:8
In flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:9
These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.
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Cross References
Ezekiel 32:21
The strong among the mighty Shall speak to him out of the midst of hell With those who help him: 'They have gone down, They lie with the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
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Cross References
Isaiah 66:24
"And they shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh."
Matthew 3:12
"His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Mark 9:43
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched -
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.