If I wash myself with snow water, ¹  and make my hands clean with lye, ² 

You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent. You can use as much soap as you want. But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see,” ¹  says the Lord God. ² 

I will attack you; ¹  I will purify your metal with flux. ²  I will remove all your slag. ³ 

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.