Hesekiel 24 | New International Reader’s Version

Jerusalem is like a cooking pot

1 It was the ninth year since King Jehoiachin had been brought to Babylon as a prisoner. On the tenth day of the tenth month, a message from the LORD came to me. The LORD said, 2 ‘Son of man, write down today’s date. The king of Babylon has surrounded Jerusalem and attacked it today. 3 Your people refuse to obey me. So tell them a story. Say to them, “The LORD and King told me, ‘ “ ‘Put a cooking pot on the fire. Pour water into it. 4 Put pieces of meat in it. Use all the best pieces. Use the leg and shoulder. Fill it with the best bones. 5 Pick the finest animal in the flock. Pile wood under the pot to cook the bones. Bring the water to a boil. Cook the bones in it.’ ” ’ 6 The LORD and King says, ‘How terrible it will be for this city! It has so many murderers in it. How terrible for the pot that is coated with scum! The scum on it will not go away. Take the meat out of the pot piece by piece. Take it out in whatever order it comes. 7 ‘The blood Jerusalem’s people spilled is inside its walls. They poured it out on a bare rock. They did not pour it on the ground. If they had, dust would have covered it up. 8 So I put their blood on the bare rock. I did not want it to be covered up. I poured out my great anger on them. I paid them back.’ 9 So the LORD and King said to me, ‘How terrible it will be for this city! It has so many murderers in it. I too will pile the wood high. 10 So pile on the wood. Light the fire. Cook the meat well. Mix in the spices. Let the bones be blackened. 11 Then set the empty pot on the coals. Let it get hot. Let its copper glow. Then what is not pure in it will melt. Its scum will be burned away. 12 But it can’t be cleaned up. Its thick scum has not been removed. Even fire can’t burn it off. 13 ‘Jerusalem, you are really impure. I tried to clean you up. But you would not let me make you pure. So you will not be clean again until I am no longer so angry with you. 14 ‘I have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not hold back. I will not feel sorry for you. I will do what I said I would do. You will be judged for your conduct and actions. I am the LORD,’ announces the LORD and King.

Ezekiel’s wife dies

15 A message from the LORD came to me. The LORD said, 16 ‘Son of man, I will take away from you the wife you delight in. It will happen very soon. But do not sing songs of sadness. Do not let any tears flow from your eyes. 17 Groan quietly. Do not mourn for your wife when she dies. Keep your turban on your head. Keep your sandals on your feet. Do not cover your moustache and beard. Do not eat the food people eat to comfort them when someone dies.’ 18 So I spoke to my people in the morning. And in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did what I had been commanded to do. 19 Then the people said to me, ‘Tell us what these things have to do with us. Why are you acting like this?’ 20 So I told them. I said, ‘A message from the LORD came to me. The LORD said, 21 “Speak to the people of Israel. Tell them, ‘The LORD and King says, “I am about to make my temple ‘unclean’. I will let the Babylonians burn it down. It is the beautiful building you are so proud of. You take delight in it. You love it. The sons and daughters you left behind will be killed by swords. 22 So do what Ezekiel did. Do not cover your moustache and beard. Do not eat the food people eat to comfort them when someone dies. 23 Keep your turbans on your heads. Keep your sandals on your feet. Do not mourn or weep. You will waste away because you have sinned so much. You will groan among yourselves. 24 What Ezekiel has done will show you what is going to happen to you. You will do just as he has done. Then you will know that I am the LORD and King.” ’ ” 25 ‘Son of man, I will take away their beautiful temple. It is their joy and glory. They take delight in it. Their hearts long for it. I will also take away their sons and daughters. 26 On the day I destroy everything, a man will escape. He will come and tell you the news. 27 At that time I will open your mouth. Then you will no longer be silent. You will speak with the man. That will show them what will happen to them. And they will know that I am the LORD.’

English Standard Version

The Siege of Jerusalem

1 In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, 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 a parable 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 of meat, all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder; fill it with choice bones. 5 Take the choicest one of the flock; pile the logs* under it; boil it well; seethe also its bones in it. 6 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice.* 7 For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on the bare rock; she did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust. 8 To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare rock the blood she has shed, that it may not be covered. 9 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great. 10 Heap on the logs, kindle the fire, boil the meat well, mix in the spices,* and let the bones be burned up. 11 Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, that its uncleanness may be melted in it, its corrosion consumed. 12 She has wearied herself with toil;* its abundant corrosion does not go out of it. Into the fire with its corrosion! 13 On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, you shall not be cleansed anymore till I have satisfied my fury upon you. 14 I am the Lord. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel’s Wife Dies

15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. 17 Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.” 18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded. 19 And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting thus?” 20 Then I said to them, “The word of the Lord came to me: 21 ‘Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul, and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. 22 And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. 23 Your turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but you shall rot away in your iniquities and groan to one another. 24 Thus shall Ezekiel be to you a sign; according to all that he has done you shall do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the Lord God.’ 25 “As for you, son of man, surely on the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes and their soul’s desire, and also their sons and daughters, 26 on that day a fugitive will come to you to report to you the news. 27 On that day your mouth will be opened to the fugitive, and you shall speak and be no longer mute. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the Lord.”

Hesekiel 24 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

Jerusalem is like a cooking pot

Ezekiel’s wife dies

The Siege of Jerusalem

Ezekiel’s Wife Dies