17. The Lord said to me,
18. “Mortal man, the Israelites are of no use to me. They are like the 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 just as 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 just as 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.