Listen, people of Judah and Jerusalem. Circumcise your hearts and become vulnerable to me. If you do not, my anger will blaze up like unquenchable fire on account of your evil deeds.”
Through our union with him we have experienced circumcision of heart. All of the guilt and power of sin has been cut away and is now extinct because of what Christ, the Anointed One, has accomplished for us.
the Egyptians, the people of Judah, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and the tribes in the desert who shave their heads bald. The men in all those lands are uncircumcised. And the Israelites are just like them because their hearts are uncircumcised.”
royal family of David. Here is what Yahweh says to you: Each new day, make sure that justice is done and rescue those who have been robbed from the power of their oppressor, or my wrath will go forth like an unquenchable fire on account of their evil deeds.
“ ‘Jerusalem, the filth of your sexual immorality is infamous. Although I have tried to purify you, you were not cleansed of your filth, so now you will never be purged of your filth until I have emptied out my fury upon you.
Therefore, with wrath I will deal with them. I will show neither pity nor mercy. They can cry to me as loudly as they want, but I will not listen to them.”
“Those far away will die by the plague, those nearby shall fall by the sword, and those who survive will die of hunger. They will experience the fullness of my fury!
And I myself will fight against you with a strong arm and with all my might. Yes, I will fight against you, fueled by my furious anger and by my great wrath!
Wake up! Wake up! Get up, Jerusalem! You have drunk enough from the cup Yahweh handed you. It was the cup of his anger, and you’ve drained it dry— the intoxicating bowl that makes men stagger!
You trust in the covenant sign of circumcision, yet circumcision only has value if you faithfully keep the teachings of the law. But if you violate the law, you have invalidated your circumcision.
For the Light of Israel will become a fire in their midst, and the Holy One will become a flame! He will consume the thorns and thistles of the Assyrian king in one day!
From long ago, the king’s fiery burial place has been prepared, stacked high with plenty of firewood to fuel the flame. Yahweh’s breath, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.
He could not endure your wicked and disgusting practices any longer. He placed a curse on your land and turned it into a desert without inhabitants as it is today.
You have desecrated my temple by admitting gentiles into my sanctuary who are uncircumcised in heart and body, allowing them into my presence while you offer the fat and blood of sacrifices to me. You have broken my covenant in addition to all the wicked things you have done.