Ezekiel 24:16-26

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.

Ezekiel 24:16-26 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.

The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010