Now speak a parable(A) to the rebellious house. Tell them: This is what the Lord God says:

Put the pot(B) on the fire—
put it on,
and then pour water into it!
Place the pieces of meat in it,
every good piece—
thigh and shoulder.
Fill it with choice bones.
Take the choicest of the flock
and also pile up the fuel[a] under it.
Bring it to a boil
and cook the bones in it.”

Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:

Woe to the city of bloodshed,(C)
the pot that has rust inside it,
and whose rust will not come off!
Empty it piece by piece;
lots should not be cast for its contents.
For the blood she shed[b] is still within her.
She put it out on the bare rock;
she didn’t pour it on the ground
to cover it with dust.(D)
In order to stir up wrath and take vengeance,(E)
I have put her blood on the bare rock,
so that it would not be covered.

Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:

Woe to the city of bloodshed!(F)
I Myself will make the pile of kindling large.
10 Pile on the logs and kindle the fire!
Cook the meat well
and mix in the spices![c][d]
Let the bones be burned!
11 Set the empty pot on its coals
so that it becomes hot and its copper glows.
Then its impurity will melt inside it;
its rust will be consumed.(G)
12 It has frustrated every effort;[e]
its thick rust will not come off.
Into the fire with its rust!
13 Because of the indecency of your uncleanness—
since I tried to purify you,
but you would not be purified from your uncleanness—
you will not be pure again
until I have satisfied My wrath on you.(H)

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 24:5 Lit bones
  2. Ezekiel 24:7 Lit For her blood
  3. Ezekiel 24:10 Some Hb mss read well; remove the broth; LXX reads fire so that the meat may be cooked and the broth may be reduced
  4. Ezekiel 24:10 Or and stir the broth
  5. Ezekiel 24:12 Hb obscure

Tell this rebellious people(A) a parable(B) and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘Put on the cooking pot;(C) put it on
    and pour water into it.
Put into it the pieces of meat,
    all the choice pieces—the leg and the shoulder.
Fill it with the best of these bones;(D)
    take the pick of the flock.(E)
Pile wood beneath it for the bones;
    bring it to a boil
    and cook the bones in it.(F)

“‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘Woe(G) to the city of bloodshed,(H)
    to the pot now encrusted,
    whose deposit will not go away!
Take the meat out piece by piece
    in whatever order(I) it comes.(J)

“‘For the blood she shed is in her midst:
    She poured it on the bare rock;
she did not pour it on the ground,
    where the dust would cover it.(K)
To stir up wrath and take revenge
    I put her blood on the bare rock,
    so that it would not be covered.

“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘Woe to the city of bloodshed!
    I, too, will pile the wood high.
10 So heap on the wood
    and kindle the fire.
Cook the meat well,
    mixing in the spices;
    and let the bones be charred.
11 Then set the empty pot on the coals
    till it becomes hot and its copper glows,
so that its impurities may be melted
    and its deposit burned away.(L)
12 It has frustrated all efforts;
    its heavy deposit has not been removed,
    not even by fire.

13 “‘Now your impurity is lewdness. Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed(M) from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided.(N)

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You hate good and love evil.
You tear off people’s skin(A)
and strip their flesh from their bones.
You eat the flesh(B) of my people
after you strip their skin from them
and break their bones.
You chop them up(C)
like flesh for the cooking pot,
like meat in a cauldron.”

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    you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
    and the flesh from their bones;(A)
who eat my people’s flesh,(B)
    strip off their skin
    and break their bones in pieces;(C)
who chop(D) them up like meat for the pan,
    like flesh for the pot?(E)

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