Jeremiah 6:27-29

Complete Jewish Bible

²⁷ “I have made you a refiner and tester of my people,
to know and test how they behave.
²⁸ All of them are total rebels,
spreading slanderous gossip;
they are bronze and iron, [inferior metals,]
all of them corrupt.
²⁹ The bellows blast away;
and though the lead is consumed by the fire,
in vain has the smelter refined,
for the wicked have not been separated.