'Lye' in the Bible

If I wash myself with snow,and cleanse my hands with lye,

“I will also turn My hand against you,And will smelt away your dross as with lyeAnd will remove all your alloy.

Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me," declares the Lord GOD.

But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will be able to stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire and like cleansing lye.