'Scum' in the Bible

Like a [common] clay vessel covered with the silver dross [making it appear silver when it has no real value]Are burning lips [murmuring manipulative words] and a wicked heart.

“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross (metallic waste) to Me. All of them are (useless) bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the furnace; they are the dross of silver.

Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you [O Israel] into the midst of Jerusalem.

‘Therefore, thus says the Lord God,“Woe (judgment is coming) to the bloody city,To the pot in which there is rustAnd whose rust has not gone out of it!Take out of it piece by piece,Without making any choice.

“Then set the empty pot (Jerusalem) back on the coalsSo that it may be hotAnd its bronze may glowAnd its filthiness may be meltedAnd its rust (scum) may be consumed.

“She has wearied Me with toil,Yet her great rust has not left her;Her thick rust and filth will not be burned away by fire [no matter how hot the flame].

When we are slandered, we try to be conciliatory and answer softly. We have become like the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.