Why was no one there when I came? Why was there no one to answer when I called? Is My hand too short to redeem? Or do I have no power to deliver? Look, I dry up the sea by My rebuke; I turn the rivers into a wilderness; their fish rot because of lack of water and die of thirst.

He saw that there was no man-- He was amazed that there was no one interceding; so His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness supported Him.

Will evildoers never understand? They consume my people as they consume bread; they do not call on the LORD.

I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it, but I found no one.

All of them are as hot as an oven, and they consume their rulers. All their kings fall; not one of them calls on Me.

They do not cry to Me from their hearts; rather, they wail on their beds. They slash themselves for grain and wine; they turn away from Me.

Or let it take hold of My strength; let it make peace with Me-- make peace with Me.

For the LORD says this: "For the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold firmly to My covenant,

Because of his sinful greed I was angry, so I struck him; I was angry and hid; but he went on turning back to the desires of his heart.

But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have made Him hide [His] face from you so that He does not listen.

My anger will burn against them on that day; I will abandon them and hide My face from them so that they will become easy prey. Many troubles and afflictions will come to them. On that day they will say, 'Haven't these troubles come to us because our God is no longer with us?'

When the LORD saw [this], He despised [them], provoked [to anger] by His sons and daughters.

They have provoked My jealousy with [their] so-called gods; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will provoke their jealousy with an inferior people; I will enrage them with a foolish nation.

I will pile disasters on them; I will use up My arrows against them.

Outside, the sword will take their children, and inside, there will be terror; the young man and the virgin [will be killed], the infant and the gray-haired man.

I will depart and return to My place until they recognize their guilt and seek My face; they will search for Me in their distress.

Therefore, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I am about to refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of My dear people?

"Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are the dross of silver.

Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to blow fire on them and melt them, so I will gather [you] in My anger and wrath, put you [inside], and melt you.

As silver is melted inside a furnace, so you will be melted inside the city. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath on you."

Set the empty pot on its coals so that it becomes hot and its copper glows. Then its impurity will melt inside it; its rust will be consumed.

Since your children sinned against Him, He gave them over to their rebellion.