Ezekiel 24:3-14

The Sign of the Cooking Pot

³Then give these rebels an illustration with this message from the Sovereign 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