17 The Lord said to me,
18 “Mortal man, the Israelites are of no use to me. They are like waste metal—copper, tin, iron, and lead—left over after silver has been refined in a furnace.
19 So now I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling them that they are just as useless as that. I will bring them all together in Jerusalem
20 in the same way that the ore of silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin is put in a refining furnace. My anger and rage will melt them the way fire melts ore.
21 Yes, I will gather them in Jerusalem, build a fire under them, and melt them with my anger.
22 They will be melted in Jerusalem the way silver is melted in a furnace, and then they will know that they are feeling the anger of the Lord.”
23 The Lord spoke to me again.