The Parable of the Cooking Pot
And the word of the LORD came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, saying:
Son of man, write for yourself the name of the day, this very day. The king of Babylon has leaned against Jerusalem this very day.
And speak a proverb to the house of rebellion and say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD: Set on the pot, set it on, and also pour water into it.
Gather its pieces into it, every good piece, thigh and shoulder; fill it with the choicest bones.
Take the choicest of the flock, and also pile the bones under it. Make it boil its boiling; also cook its bones in its midst.
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe, city of blood — a pot whose scum is in it, and whose scum has not gone out of it! Piece by piece bring it out; no lot has fallen on it.
For her blood is in her midst; on a bare rock she set it. She did not pour it on the ground, to cover it with dust.
To bring up wrath, to take vengeance, I have set her blood on a bare rock, so that it is not covered.
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe, city of blood! I too will make the pyre great.
Heap on the wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, mix in the spices — and let the bones be scorched.
And set it empty on its coals, so that it grows hot and its bronze burns, and its uncleanness is melted in its midst, its scum consumed.
With toil she has wearied, and her heavy scum has not gone out of her — into the fire with her scum!
In your uncleanness is depravity. Because I cleansed you and you were not cleansed, from your uncleanness you will not be cleansed again until I let my wrath rest on you.
I the LORD have spoken. It is coming, and I have done it. I will not hold back and I will not pity and I will not relent. According to your ways and according to your deeds they will judge you, the utterance of the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel’s Wife Dies
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Son of man, see, I am taking from you the desire of your eyes with a blow; and you will not lament and you will not weep, and your tears will not come.
Groan in silence; for the dead make no mourning. Bind your turban on you and put your sandals on your feet; and do not cover your lip, and do not eat the bread of men.
And I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.
And the people said to me: Will you not tell us what these are to us, that you are doing so?
And I said to them: The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord GOD: See, I am profaning my sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the desire of your eyes and what your soul spares; and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind will fall by the sword.
And you will do as I have done: you will not cover your lip and you will not eat the bread of men.
And your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you will not lament and you will not weep, but you will waste away in your iniquities and groan to one another.
And Ezekiel will be a portent for you; according to all that he did you will do. When it comes, you will know that I am the Lord GOD.
And you, son of man — will it not be on the day I take from them their stronghold, the rejoicing of their beauty, the desire of their eyes and the lifting up of their soul, their sons and their daughters —
on that day the escapee will come to you, to make it heard in your ears.
On that day your mouth will be opened to the escapee, and you will speak and no longer be mute. And you will be a portent for them, and they will know that I am the LORD.