Ezekiel 24:1-11

1 And the word of the Lord came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, the tenth day of the month, saying:

2 Son of man, write thee the name of this day, on which the king of Babylon hath set himself against Jerusalem to day.

3 And thou shalt speak by a figure a parable to the provoking house, and say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Set on a pot, set it on, I say, and put water in it.

4 Heap together into it the pieces thereof, every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder, choice pieces and full of bones.

5 Take the fattest of the flock, and lay together piles of bones under it: the seething thereof is boiling hot, and the bones thereof are thoroughly sodden in the midst of it.

6 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose rust is in it, and its rust is not gone out of it: cast it out piece by piece, there hath no lot fallen upon it.

7 For her blood is in the midst of her, she hath shed it upon the smooth rock: she hath not shed it upon the ground, that it might be covered with dust.

8 And that I might bring my indignation upon her, and take my vengeance: I have shed her blood upon the smooth rock, that it should not be covered.

9 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city, of which I will make a great bonfire.

10 Heap together the bones, which I will burn with fire: the flesh shall be consumed, and the whole composition shall be sodden, and the bones shall be consumed.

11 Then set it empty upon burning coals, that it may be hot, and the brass thereof may be melted: and let the filth of it be melted in the midst thereof, and let the rust of it be consumed.

Ezekiel 24:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 24

Is this chapter the destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem is prophesied of; the former under the parable of a boiling pot; the latter is represented by the sudden death of Ezekiel's wife. The time of this prophecy was that very day the king of Babylon began the siege of Jerusalem, Eze 24:1,2, the parable of the boiling pot, Eze 24:3-5, the explanation and application of it to the city of Jerusalem, Eze 24:6-14, the prophet is told of the death of his wife, and bid not to mourn on that account, which accordingly came to pass, Eze 24:15-18, upon the people's inquiring what these things meant, he informs them that hereby was signified the profanation of the temple; and that their distress should be so great, that they should not use any set forms of mourning, but pine away and die, Eze 24:19-24, and the chapter is closed with assuring the prophet, that the day these things should come to pass, a messenger should be sent him, to whom he should open his mouth, and be no more dumb, Eze 24:25-27.