I have sinned against you, especially you. I have done what you consider evil. So you hand down justice when you speak, and you are blameless when you judge.
“Come on now, let’s discuss this!” says the Lord. “Though your sins are bright red, they will become as white as snow. Though they are dark red, they will become as white as wool.
Let wicked people abandon their ways. Let evil people abandon their thoughts. Let them return to the Lord, and he will show compassion to them. Let them return to our God, because he will freely forgive them.
No longer will each person teach his neighbors or his relatives by saying, ‘Know the Lord.’ All of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” declares the Lord, “because I will forgive their wickedness and I will no longer hold their sins against them.”
In those days and at that time,” declares the Lord, “people will look for Israel’s crimes, but they will find none. They will look for Judah’s sins, but none will be found. I will forgive the faithful few whom I have spared.
But I acted so that my name would not be dishonored among the nations where they were living. While other nations were watching, I made myself known to them by bringing the Israelites out of Egypt.
“So tell the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: I am about to do something, people of Israel. I will not do this for your sake but for the sake of my holy name, which you have dishonored among the nations wherever you have gone.