Parable of the Boiling Pot

1Again in the ninth year [of King Jehoiachin’s captivity by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon], in the tenth month, on the tenth [day] of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, record the name of the day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. 3Speak a parable against the rebellious house [of Judah] and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,

“Put on a pot; put it on and also pour water into it;

4Put in it the pieces [of meat],

Every good piece (the people of Jerusalem), the thigh and the shoulder;

Fill it with choice bones.

5“Take the choicest of the flock,

And also pile wood under the pot.

Make it boil vigorously

And boil its bones in the pot.”

6‘Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD,

“Woe (judgment is coming) to the bloody city,

To the pot in which there is rust

And whose rust has not gone out of it!

Take out of it piece by piece,

Without making any choice.

7“For her blood [that she has shed] remains in her midst;

She put it on the bare rock;

She did not pour it on the ground

To cover it with dust.

8“That it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance,

I have put her blood [guilt for her children sacrificed to Molech] on the bare rock,

That it may not be covered.”

9‘Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD,

“Woe to the bloody city!

I will also make the pile [of wood] high.

10“Heap on wood, kindle the fire,

Boil the meat well [done]

And mix in the spices,

And let the bones be burned.

11“Then set the empty pot (Jerusalem) back on the coals

So that it may be hot

And its bronze may glow

And its filthiness may be melted

And its rust (scum) may be consumed.

12“She has wearied Me with toil,

Yet her great rust has not left her;

Her thick rust and filth will not be burned away by fire [no matter how hot the flame].

13“In your filthiness are lewdness and outrage.

Therefore I would have cleansed you,

Yet you were not [willing to be] cleansed,

You will not be cleansed from your filthiness again

Until I have satisfied My wrath against you. 14I the LORD have spoken; it is coming and I will act. I will not relent, and I will not have compassion and I will not be sorry; in accordance with your ways and in accordance with your deeds I will judge and punish you,” says the Lord GOD.’”

Death of Ezekiel’s Wife Is a Sign

15Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 16“Son of man, listen carefully, I am about to take away from you the desire of your eyes [your wife] with a single stroke. Yet you shall not mourn and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not flow. 17Sigh and groan in silence; do not mourn for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your sandals on your feet, and do not cover your mustache or eat the bread of [mourners furnished by other] men.” 18So I spoke to the people in the morning, and [a]in the evening my wife died. And the next morning I did as I was commanded. 19The people said to me, “These things that you are doing--tell us, what do they mean for us?” 20Then I answered them, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 21‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I will [b]profane My sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind [in Jerusalem] will fall by the sword. 22You will do as I [Ezekiel] have done; you shall not cover your mustache nor eat the bread of [mourning brought to you by other] men. 23Your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep, but you will rot away in your sins and you will groan to one another. 24So Ezekiel will be a sign to you; in accordance with all that he has done you will do. And when this [destruction of the temple] comes, then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord GOD.’”

25‘As for you, son of man, on the day when I take their strength and their stronghold from them, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes and [c]their heart’s [chief] delight (the temple), and I also take their sons and their daughters, 26that on that day a survivor will come to you to let you hear [of the destruction of Jerusalem] with your [own] ears. 27On that day [d]your mouth will be opened to him who escaped, and you will speak and no longer be mute. In this way you shall be a sign to them, and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the LORD.’”

[a] 18 This was the same day that the temple in Jerusalem was burned (586 B.C).
[b] 21 I.e. allow the temple in Jerusalem to be destroyed by pagans.
[c] 25 Lit the lifting up of their soul.
[d] 27 At the beginning of Ezekiel’s prophetic ministry (see 3:26, 27; 33:22) God told him he would be mute except when he was speaking a divine prophecy.