Read the Bible

Parable of the Boiling Pot

¹ Again 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 ^(C1)laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.³ "Speak a ^(C1)parable against the ^(C2)rebellious house of Judah and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,

"Put on a ^(C3)pot; put it on and also pour water into it;

^4 (C1)Put 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 ^(C1)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 ^(C1)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 ^(C1)pour it on the ground
To cover it with dust.

⁸ "That it may ^(C1)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,
"^(C1)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 ^(C1)set the empty pot (Jerusalem) back on the coals
So that it may be hot
And its bronze may glow
And its ^(C2)filthiness may be melted
And its rust (scum) may be consumed.

¹² "She has ^(C1)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 ^(C1)not willing to be cleansed,
You will not be cleansed from your filthiness again
Until I have ^(C2)satisfied My wrath against you.

Death of Ezekiel's Wife Is a Sign

¹⁵ Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying,¹⁶ "Son of man, listen carefully, I am about to take away from you the ^(C1)desire of your eyes your wife with a single ^(C2)stroke. Yet you shall not ^(C3)mourn and you shall not weep, and your ^(C4)tears shall not flow.¹⁷ "Sigh and groan in silence; do not ^(C1)mourn for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your sandals on your feet, and do not cover your mustache or ^(C2)eat the bread of mourners furnished by other men."¹⁸ So I spoke to the people in the morning, and ^(F1)in the evening my wife died. And the next morning I did as I was commanded.¹⁹ The people said to me, "These things that you are doing—tell us, what do they mean for us?"²⁰ Then 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 ^(F1)profane My sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the ^(C1)desire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul; and your ^(C2)sons and your daughters whom you have left behind in Jerusalem will fall by the sword.²² 'You 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.²³ 'Your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You ^(C1)will not mourn or weep, but ^(C2)you will rot away in your sins and you will groan to one another. ^(VR1)24 'So Ezekiel will be a ^(C1)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 ^(C1)strength and their stronghold from them, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes and ^(F1)their heart's chief delight (the temple), and I also take their sons and their daughters,²⁶ that on that day a ^(C1)survivor will come to you to let you hear of the destruction of Jerusalem with your own ears.²⁷ 'On that day ^(F1)your ^(C1)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.'"