Ezekiel 24:3–13

³Tell this rebellious people^q a parable^r and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“ ‘Put on the cooking pot;^s put it on

and pour water into it.

⁴Put into it the pieces of meat,

all the choice pieces—the leg and the shoulder.

Fill it with the best of these bones;^t

⁵take the pick of the flock.^u

Pile wood beneath it for the bones;

bring it to a boil

and cook the bones in it.^v

⁶“ ‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“ ‘Woe^w to the city of bloodshed,^x

to the pot now encrusted,

whose deposit will not go away!

Take the meat out piece by piece

in whatever order^y it comes.^z

⁷“ ‘For the blood she shed is in her midst:

She poured it on the bare rock;

she did not pour it on the ground,

where the dust would cover it.^a

⁸To stir up wrath and take revenge

I put her blood on the bare rock,

so that it would not be covered.

⁹“ ‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“ ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed!

I, too, will pile the wood high.

¹⁰So heap on the wood

and kindle the fire.

Cook the meat well,

mixing in the spices;

and let the bones be charred.

¹¹Then set the empty pot on the coals

till it becomes hot and its copper glows,

so that its impurities may be melted

and its deposit burned away.^b

¹²It has frustrated all efforts;

its heavy deposit has not been removed,

not even by fire.

¹³“ ‘Now your impurity is lewdness. Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed^c from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided.^d