22 As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have apoured out My fury on you.’ ”
24 “Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that is anot cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’
25aThe conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they bhave devoured people; cthey have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.
26aHer priests have violated My law and bprofaned My holy things; they have not cdistinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known thedifference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
27 Her aprinces in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy1 people, and to get dishonest gain.
28aHer prophets plastered them with untempered mortar,bseeing false visions, and divining clies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord had not spoken.
29 The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully aoppress the stranger.
30aSo I sought for a man among them who would bmake a wall, and cstand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.
31 Therefore I have apoured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed btheir deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.
Among all Israel, God can find no man who will lead the people in His way, so He allows the natural processes of destruction and degeneration to occur. Once Israel is sufficiently weak from her own ungodly ideas and behaviors, He will send the Assyrian to finish the job (Isaiah 10:5-11).
