Ezekiel 24

Chapter 24

Parable of the Boiling Pot

¹And the word of the Lord 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 say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord ¹God,

“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 boil vigorously.

Also seethe its bones in it.”

⁶‘Therefore, thus says the Lord God,

“Woe to the ^abloody city,

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 the Lord God,

“^aWoe to the bloody city!

I also will make the pile great.

¹⁰“Heap on the wood, kindle the fire,

¹Boil the flesh well

And mix in the spices,

And let the bones be burned.

¹¹“Then ^aset it empty on its coals

So that it may be hot

And its bronze may ¹glow

And its ^bfilthiness may be melted in it,

Its rust consumed.

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 filthiness is lewdness.

Because I would have cleansed you,

Yet you are ^anot clean,

You will not be cleansed from your filthiness again

Until I have ^1bspent My wrath on you.

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

Death of Ezekiel’s Wife Is a Sign

¹⁵And the word of the Lord 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 turban 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 the Lord came to me saying,

²¹‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am about to profane My sanctuary, the pride of your power, 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‘You will do as I have done; you will not cover your mustache and you will not eat the bread of men.

²³‘Your turbans 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 ^asign to you; according to all that he has done you will do; when it comes, then you will know that I am the Lord God.’ ”

²⁵‘As for you, son of man, will it not be on the day when I take from them their ^astronghold, the joy of their ¹pride, the desire of their eyes and ²their heart’s delight, their sons and their daughters,

²⁶that on that day he who ^aescapes will come to you with information 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 sign to them, and they will know that I am the Lord.’ ”