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¹ IN the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,² Son of man, write down the name of this day, for on this very day the king of Babylon has set himself against Jerusalem.³ And devise a parable concerning the rebellious house, and say to them, Thus says the LORD God: Set a pot on the fire and pour water into it;⁴ And put into it pieces of meat which are good and fat, a shoulder whose bone is broken from the choicest of the flock.⁵ And burn also the bones under the pot, and make it boil well, and let the bones seethe in it.⁶ Therefore thus says the LORD God: Woe to the bloody city, in which the pot is set on the fire, and whose iniquity has not gone out of it! Cut her piece by piece, so destroyed that no one would divide her by lot.⁷ For the blood is still in the midst of her; she splashed it upon the rock; she poured it not upon the ground to cover it with dust,⁸ That it might cause my fury to come up, to take vengeance; I have set her blood on the top of a smooth rock, that it should not be covered.⁹ Therefore, thus says the LORD God: Woe to the bloody city! I will even enlarge the fireplace and increase the fuel,¹⁰ And I will kindle the fire, and the flesh shall be cooked and seethe, and the bones shall be burned.¹¹ Then set the pot empty upon the coals, that it may become hot and that its brass may melt and the filthiness of it may be melted in it and that the scum of it may be consumed.¹² She has become like rotten figs, and her great iniquities have not gone out of her; her vengeance shall be in the fire.¹³ Because you have polluted yourself with lewdness, and because I have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your filthiness, you shall not be cleansed any more till I have caused my fury to rest upon you.¹⁴ I the LORD have spoken it; it shall come to pass and I will do it; I will not have pity, neither will I spare nor will I have mercy; but I will judge you according to your ways; and according to your doings, shall I judge you, says the LORD God.

¹⁵ And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,¹⁶ Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke; and you shall neither mourn nor weep, neither shall your tears run down.¹⁷ Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, put on your robe and put shoes on your feet; and do not cover your lips nor eat the bread provided for you.¹⁸ So I spoke of it to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and in the morning of the next day I did as I had been commanded.¹⁹ And the people said to me, Will you not tell us the meaning of these strange things which you do?²⁰ Then I said to them, This is the word of the LORD which came to me, saying,²¹ Speak to the house of Israel, Thus says the LORD God: Behold, I will allow my sanctuary to be profaned, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, the cleanser of your souls; and your sons and your daughters whom you leave behind shall fall by the sword.²² And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips nor shall you eat the bread provided for mourners.²³ And your hair shall not be cut, and your shoes shall be on your feet; you shall not mourn nor weep; but you shall pine away in your iniquities and shall try to comfort one another.²⁴ Thus Ezekiel shall be to you for a sign; according to all that he has done shall you do; and you shall know that I am the LORD God.²⁵ But you, O Son of man, on the day when I take away from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and the cleanser of their souls, their sons and their daughters,²⁶ On that day a survivor shall come to you and cause you to hear it with your ears;²⁷ And on that day the survivor shall open your mouth, and you shall speak and be no more dumb; and you shall be a sign to them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.