In Ahaz’s troubles, he sinned worse and became more unfaithful to the Lord.
Ezekiel 22:24 - Easy To Read Version “Son of man, {\cf2\super [174]} speak to Israel. Tell her that she is not pure. {\cf2\super [175]} I am angry at that country, so that country has not received its rain. Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. Amplified Bible - Classic Edition Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed nor rained upon in the day of indignation. American Standard Version (1901) Son of man, say unto her, Thou art a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. Common English Bible Human one, say to her, You are an unclean land without rain on the day of reckoning. Catholic Public Domain Version "Son of man, say to her: You are a land unclean and not rained upon, in the day of fury. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version Son of man, say to her: Thou art a land that is unclean and not rained upon in the day of wrath. |
In Ahaz’s troubles, he sinned worse and became more unfaithful to the Lord.
\{God says,\} “Why should I continue to punish you people? \{I punished you, but you did not change.\} You continue to rebel against me. Now every head and every heart is sick.
God will punish the people, but they will not stop sinning. They will not return to him. They will not follow the Lord All-Powerful.
“I punished you people of Judah,\par but it did not help.\par You did not come back when you were punished.\par You killed with your swords the prophets that came to you.\par You were like a dangerous lion and you killed the prophets.”\par
Lord, I know that you want people\par to be loyal to you.\par You hit the people of Judah,\par but they did not feel any pain.\par You destroyed them,\par but they refused to learn their lesson.\par They became very stubborn.\par They refused to be sorry\par for the bad things they did.\par
\{They are like a worker\par that tried to make silver pure.\}\par The bellows {\cf2\super [49]} blew strongly\par \{and the fire became hotter\}.\par But only lead came from the fire! {\cf2\super [50]} \par The worker wasted his time\par trying to make that silver pure.\par In the same way, the evil was not removed\par \{from my people\}.\par
“‘You sinned against me\par and became stained with sin.\par I wanted to wash you and make you clean.\par But the stains would not come out.\par I won’t try washing you again\par until my hot anger is finished with you!\par
Your people didn’t listen to me! They didn’t accept my teachings. Jerusalem didn’t trust the Lord. Jerusalem didn’t go to her God.