The Boiling Pot

(Cp Jer 1:13–19)

24 In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. 3 And utter an allegory to the rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord God:

Set on the pot, set it on,

pour in water also;

4 put in it the pieces,

all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder;

fill it with choice bones.

5 Take the choicest one of the flock,

pile the logsa under it;

boil its pieces,b

seethec also its bones in it.

6 Therefore thus says the Lord God:

Woe to the bloody city,

the pot whose rust is in it,

whose rust has not gone out of it!

Empty it piece by piece,

making no choice at all.d

7 For the blood she shed is inside it;

she placed it on a bare rock;

she did not pour it out on the ground,

to cover it with earth.

8 To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance,

I have placed the blood she shed

on a bare rock,

so that it may not be covered.

9 Therefore thus says the Lord God:

Woe to the bloody city!

I will even make the pile great.

10 Heap up the logs, kindle the fire;

boil the meat well, mix in the spices,

let the bones be burned.

11 Stand it empty upon the coals,

so that it may become hot, its copper glow,

its filth melt in it, its rust be consumed.

12 In vain I have wearied myself;e

its thick rust does not depart.

To the fire with its rust!f

13 Yet, when I cleansed you in your filthy lewdness,

you did not become clean from your filth;

you shall not again be cleansed

until I have satisfied my fury upon you.

14 I the Lord have spoken; the time is coming, I will act. I will not refrain, I will not spare, I will not relent. According to your ways and your doings I will judge you, says the Lord God.