Therefore the Lord who rules over all says, ¹  “I will now purify them in the fires of affliction ²  and test them. The wickedness of my dear people ³  has left me no choice. What else can I do? ⁴ 

Hammered-out silver is brought from Tarshish ¹  and gold is brought from Uphaz ²  to cover those idols. ³  They are the handiwork of carpenters and goldsmiths. ⁴  They are clothed in blue and purple clothes. ⁵  They are all made by skillful workers. ⁶ 

All these idolaters ¹  will prove to be stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made. For the image he forges is merely a sham. ²  There is no breath in any of those idols. ³ 

All idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made. For the image he forges is merely a sham. There is no breath in any of those idols.

Even some of the wise will stumble, resulting in their refinement, purification, and cleansing until the time of the end, for it is still for the appointed time.

Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, ¹  like a launderer’s soap.

He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will offer the Lord a proper offering.

Uzziel son of Harhaiah, a member of the goldsmiths’ guild, worked on the section adjacent to him. Hananiah, a member of the perfumers’ guild, worked on the section adjacent to him. They plastered ¹  the city wall of Jerusalem ²  as far as the Broad Wall.

The Lord spoke to Gideon again, “There are still too many men. ¹  Bring them down to the water and I will thin the ranks some more. ²  When I say, ‘This one should go with you,’ pick him to go; ³  when I say, ⁴  ‘This one should not go with you,’ do not take him.” ⁵