24 ¶ Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, write the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon laid siege against Jerusalem this same day.

³ And speak unto the house of rebellion by parable and say unto them, Thus hath the Lord GOD said; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it:

⁴ gather her pieces of meat into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.

⁵ Take the choice of the flock and burn also the bones under it and make it boil well and let them seethe the bones of it therein.

⁶ For thus hath the Lord GOD said: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein and whose scum is not gone out of it! For her pieces, because of her pieces let it be removed; let no lot fall upon it.

⁷ For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she did not poured it upon the ground, to cover it with dust;

⁸ that wrath might rise up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the high place of the rock that it should not be covered.

⁹ Therefore thus hath the Lord GOD said: Woe to the bloody city! I will also make a great fire,

¹⁰ multiplying the wood, kindling the fire, to consume the flesh and to make the broth, and the bones shall be burned;

¹¹ setting afterward the empty pot upon the coals thereof that it may become red hot and may burn and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed.

¹² In fraud she has become weary, and her great scum did not go forth out of her; her scum shall be in the fire.

¹³ In thy perverse filthiness thou shalt die because I have cleansed thee, and thou didst not cleanse thyself from thy uncleanness; thou shalt never cleanse thyself again, until I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.

¹⁴ I, the LORD, have spoken: I came and worked. I will not turn back, neither will I have mercy, neither will I repent; according to thy ways and according to thy doings, they shall judge thee, said the Lord GOD.

¹⁵ ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

¹⁶ Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes by death; yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.

¹⁷ Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind thy turban upon thy head, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet and do not cover thy lips and do not eat the bread of comfort.

¹⁸ So I spoke unto the people in the morning; and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.

¹⁹ And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?

²⁰ Then I answered them, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

²¹ Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus hath the Lord GOD said: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the glory of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and the gift of your soul; your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.

²² And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips nor eat the bread of men.

²³ And your turbans shall be upon your heads and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities and cry out one with another.

²⁴ Thus Ezekiel shall be unto you for a sign: according to all that he has done ye shall do: and when this comes, ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

²⁵ Also, thou son of man, in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and the care of their souls, their sons and their daughters,

²⁶ that day one that escapes shall come unto thee, to bring the news.

²⁷ In that day thy mouth shall be opened to speak unto him who is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and no longer be dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.