1 Under the parable of a boiling pot, 6 is shown the irrevocable destruction of Jerusalem. 15 By the sign of Ezekiel not mourning for the death of his wife, 19 is shown the calamity of the Jews to be beyond all sorrow.

¹ Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

² Son of man, write you the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.

³ And utter a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it:

⁴ Gather the pieces thereof 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 Why thus says the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall on it.

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

⁸ That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood on the top of a rock, that it should not be covered.

⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great.

¹⁰ Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned.

¹¹ Then set it empty on the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed.

¹² She has wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire.

¹³ In your filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged you, and you were not purged, you shall not be purged from your filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest on you.

¹⁴ I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to your ways, and according to your doings, shall they judge you, says the Lord GOD. ¶

¹⁵ Also 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: yet neither shall you mourn nor weep, neither shall your tears run down.

¹⁷ Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of your head on you, and put on your shoes on your feet, and cover not your lips, and eat not the bread of men.

¹⁸ So I spoke to 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 to me, Will you not tell us what these things are to us, that you do so?

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

²¹ Speak to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pities; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left shall fall by the sword.

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

²³ And your tires shall be on your heads, and your shoes on your feet: you shall not mourn nor weep; but you shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another.

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

²⁵ Also, you son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters,

²⁶ That he that escapes in that day shall come to you, to cause you to hear it with your ears?

²⁷ In that day shall your mouth be opened to him which is escaped, 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.