Ezekiel 24

CHAPTER 24

The Parable of the Boiling Pot

¹And the word of Yahweh came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, saying,

²“Son of man, write the name of the day, this very day. The king of Babylon ¹has ^alaid siege to Jerusalem this very day.

³“Speak a ^aparable to the ^brebellious house, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh,

“Put on the ^cpot, put it on and also pour water in it;

^41aPut in it the pieces,

Every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder;

Fill it with choice bones.

⁵“Take the ^achoicest of the flock,

And also pile ¹wood under ²the pot.

Make it seethe vigorously.

Also boil its bones in it.”

⁶‘Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh,

“Woe to the ^acity of blood,

To the pot in which there is rust

And whose rust has not gone out of it!

Take out of it piece after piece,

¹Without making a choice.

⁷“For her blood is in her midst;

She placed it on the bare rock;

She did not ^apour it on the ground

To cover it with dust.

⁸“That it may ^acause wrath to come up to take vengeance,

I have put her blood on the bare rock,

That it may not be covered.”

⁹‘Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh,

“^aWoe to the city of blood!

I also will make the pile great.

¹⁰“Heap on the wood, kindle the fire,

Completely cook the flesh

And mix in the spices

And let the bones be burned.

¹¹“Then ^astand it empty on its coals

So that it may be hot

And its bronze may ¹glow

And its ^buncleanness may be melted in it,

Its rust brought to a complete end.

¹²“She has ^awearied Me with toil,

Yet her great rust has not gone from her;

Let her rust be in the fire!

¹³“In your uncleanness is lewdness.

Because I would have cleansed you,

Yet you are ^anot clean;

You will not be cleansed from your uncleanness again

Until I have ^1bcaused My wrath against you to be at rest.

¹⁴“I, Yahweh, have spoken; it is ^acoming, and I will act. I will not regret, and I will not ^bpity, and I will not ¹relent; ^caccording to your ways and according to your deeds ²I will judge you,” declares Lord Yahweh.’”

Ezekiel’s Wife Dies as a Sign

¹⁵And the word of Yahweh came to me saying,

¹⁶“Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you the ^adesire of your eyes with a ^bblow; but you shall not ^cmourn, and you shall not weep, and your ^dtears shall not come.

¹⁷“Groan silently; make ^ano mourning for the dead. Bind on your headdress and put your shoes on your feet and do not cover your mustache and ^bdo not eat the bread of men.”

¹⁸So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And in the morning I did as I was commanded.

¹⁹The people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things that you are doing mean for us?”

²⁰Then I said to them, “The word of Yahweh came to me saying,

²¹‘Say to the house of Israel, “Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am about to profane My sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the ^adesire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul; and your ^bsons and your daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword.

²²‘And you will do as I have done; you will not cover your mustache, and you will not eat the bread of men.

²³‘And your headdresses will be on your heads and your shoes on your feet. You ^awill not mourn, and you will not weep, but ^byou will rot away in your iniquities, and you will groan ¹to one another.

²⁴‘Thus Ezekiel will be a ^awondrous sign to you; according to all that he has done you will do; when it comes, then you will know that I am Lord Yahweh.’”

²⁵‘Now as for you, son of man, will it not be on the day when I take from them their ^astrong defense, the joy of their beauty, the desire of their eyes, and what lifts up their soul, their sons and their daughters,

²⁶that on that day he who ^aescapes will come to you with a report for your ears?

²⁷‘On that day your ^amouth will be opened to him who escaped, and you will speak and be mute no longer. Thus you will be a wondrous sign to them, and they will know that I am Yahweh.’”