God Rebukes Prophets and Priests

²³ This message came to me from the Lord: ²⁴ “Son of Man, tell her,^[a] ‘You’re a land that hasn’t been purified, one that hasn’t been rained on in the day of indignation. ²⁵ There’s a conspiracy of prophets within her, and like a roaring lion tearing its prey, they’ve devoured people, and confiscated treasures, and taken precious things. They’ve added to the population of widows within her. ²⁶ Her priests have violated my Law and profaned my sacred things. They didn’t differentiate between what’s sacred and what’s common. They didn’t instruct others to discern clean from unclean things. They refused to keep^[b] my Sabbaths.

“‘I’m constantly being profaned among them. ²⁷ Her princes within her are like wolves tearing their prey apart. They shed blood, destroying souls, and make unjust gain.

²⁸ “‘Her prophets whitewashed all of these things through false visions and lying divinations. They kept on saying, “This is what the Lord God says…”, when the Lord has not spoken. ²⁹ The people of the land were vigorously oppressive and took possession of plunder by violence. They’ve afflicted the poor and the needy and unjustly treated the foreigner. ³⁰ I sought for a man among them to build the wall and stand in the breach in my presence on behalf of the land so that it won’t be destroyed, but I found no one, ³¹ so I poured my indignation over them. With my fierce anger, I’ve consumed them. I brought the consequences of^[c] their behavior upon them,’^[d] declares the Lord God.”