Ezekiel 24:1-27

Ezekiel 24

The Sign of the Cooking Pot

1On January 15,*24:1 Hebrew On the tenth day of the tenth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This event occurred on January 15, 588 b.c.; also see note on 1:1. during the ninth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from the Lord:

“Put a pot on the fire,

and pour in some water.

4Fill it with choice pieces of meat—

the rump and the shoulder

and all the most tender cuts.

5Use only the best sheep from the flock,

and heap fuel on the fire beneath the pot.

Bring the pot to a boil,

and cook the bones along with the meat.

6“Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

What sorrow awaits Jerusalem,

the city of murderers!

She is a cooking pot

whose corruption can’t be cleaned out.

Take the meat out in random order,

for no piece is better than another.

7For the blood of her murders

is splashed on the rocks.

It isn’t even spilled on the ground,

where the dust could cover it!

8So I will splash her blood on a rock

for all to see,

an expression of my anger

and vengeance against her.

9“This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

What sorrow awaits Jerusalem,

the city of murderers!

I myself will pile up the fuel beneath her.

10Yes, heap on the wood!

Let the fire roar to make the pot boil.

Cook the meat with many spices,

and afterward burn the bones.

11Now set the empty pot on the coals.

Heat it red hot!

Burn away the filth and corruption.

12But it’s hopeless;

the corruption can’t be cleaned out.

So throw it into the fire.

13Your impurity is your lewdness

and the corruption of your idolatry.

I tried to cleanse you,

but you refused.

So now you will remain in your filth

until my fury against you has been satisfied.

14“I, the Lord, have spoken! The time has come, and I won’t hold back. I will not change my mind, and I will have no pity on you. You will be judged on the basis of all your wicked actions, says the Sovereign Lord.”

The Death of Ezekiel’s Wife

15Then this message came to me from the Lord:

18So I proclaimed this to the people the next morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did everything I had been told to do.

20So I said to them, “A message came to me from the Lord,

25Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man, on the day I take away their stronghold—their joy and glory, their heart’s desire, their dearest treasure—I will also take away their sons and daughters.