Ezekiel 24

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

²“Son of man, write down today’s date, for on this very day the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem.

³Now speak a parable to this rebellious house and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Put the pot on the fire; put it on and pour in the water.

⁴Put in the pieces of meat, every good piece—thigh and shoulder—fill it with choice bones.

⁵Take the choicest of the flock and pile the fuel beneath it. Bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it.’

⁶Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed, to the pot now rusted, whose rust will not come off! Empty it piece by piece; cast no lots for its contents.

⁷For the blood she shed is still within her; she poured it out on the bare rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust.

⁸In order to stir up wrath and take vengeance, I have placed her blood on the bare rock, so that it would not be covered.’

⁹Yes, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed! I, too, will pile the kindling high.

¹⁰Pile on the logs and kindle the fire; cook the meat well and mix in the spices; let the bones be burned.

¹¹Set the empty pot on its coals until it becomes hot and its copper glows. Then its impurity will melt within; its rust will be consumed.

¹²It has frustrated every effort; its thick rust has not been removed, even by the fire.