Ezekiel 24:1-14

The Siege of Jerusalem

1 ¹In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:

2 ²"Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.

3 And ³utter a parable to ⁴the rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: "Set on ⁵the pot, set it on; pour in water also;

4 put in it the pieces of meat, all the good pieces, ⁶the thigh and the shoulder; fill it with choice bones.

5 Take the choicest one of the flock; pile the logs^[a] under it; boil it well; seethe also its bones in it.

6 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ⁷Woe to the bloody city, to ⁸the pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice.^[b]

7 For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on ⁹the bare rock; ¹⁰she did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust.

8 To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare rock the blood she has shed, that it may not be covered.

9 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city! ¹¹I also will make the pile great.

10 Heap on the logs, kindle the fire, boil the meat well, mix in the spices,^[c] and let the bones be burned up.

11 Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, ¹²that its uncleanness may be melted in it, its corrosion consumed.

12 ¹³She has wearied herself with toil;^[d] its abundant corrosion does not go out of it. Into the fire with its corrosion!

13 On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, ¹⁴you shall not be cleansed anymore till ¹⁵I have satisfied my fury upon you.

14 ¹⁶I am the LORD. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; ¹⁷I will not spare; ¹⁸I will not relent; ¹⁹according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord GOD."

Ezekiel 24:1-14 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.

Cross References

• 1. See Ezekiel 20:1
• 2. See Ezekiel 2:1
• 3. [Ezekiel 17:2; Ezekiel 20:49]
• 4. See Ezekiel 2:5
• 5. Ezekiel 11:3, 7, 11; 2 Kings 4:38
• 6. See 1 Samuel 9:24
• 7. Ezekiel 22:2; [Nahum 3:1]
• 8. [See ver. 3 above]
• 9. Ezekiel 26:4, 14
• 10. [Leviticus 17:13; Deuteronomy 12:16, 24]
• 11. Isaiah 30:33
• 12. Ezekiel 22:15
• 13. [Jeremiah 2:22]
• 14. Isaiah 22:14
• 15. See Ezekiel 5:13
• 16. See Ezekiel 17:24
• 17. See Ezekiel 5:11
• 18. [Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29]
• 19. [Ezekiel 20:43; Ezekiel 23:45]

Footnotes

• [a]. Compare verse 10; Hebrew the bones
• [b]. Hebrew no lot has fallen upon it
• [c]. Or empty out the broth
• [d]. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain