Chapter 24

Jerusalem many ways chastised of God, and not amended, ℣.11 shall at last be melted like a brass pot: ℣.15 and shall not dare to mourn for the death of her dearest.

1. 1

   And the word of our Lord was made to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, the tenth day of the month, saying:

2. 2

   Son of man, write thee the name of this day, wherein the king of Babylon is confirmed against Jerusalem to day.

3. 3

   And thou shalt speak by a proverb to the exasperating house a parable, & shalt say to them: Thus saith our Lord God: Set thou a pot, set it, I say, and put water into it.

4. 4

   Heap together the pieces thereof into it, every good part, the thigh and the shoulder, the chosen things and full of bones.

5. 5

   Take the fattest beast, and lay together piles of bones also under it: the seething thereof is boiling hot, and the bones thereof are throughly sodden in the midst thereof.

6. 6

   Therefore thus saith our Lord God: Woe to the city of blood, to the pot, whose rustiness is in it, and the rustiness thereof is not gone out of it: by her parts and by her parts cast her out, there hath no lot fallen upon her.

7. 7

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

8. 8

   That I might bring mine indignation in upon her, and might revenge with vengeance: I gave her blood upon the most clear rock, that it might not be covered.

9. 9

   Therefore thus saith our Lord God: Woe to the city of blood, whose bonefire I will make great.

10. 10

    Heap together the bones, which I will burn with fire: the flesh shall be consumed, and all the composition shall be sod, and the bones shall dry away.

11. 11

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

12. 12

    There hath been sweating with much labour, & the exceeding rust thereof is not gone out, no not by fire.

13. 13

    Thine uncleanness is execrable: because I would cleanse thee, and thou art not cleansed from thy filthiness: yea neither shalt thou be cleansed, before I make mine indignation to cease in thee.

14. 14

    I, the Lord have spoken: It shall come, and I will do it: I will not pass, nor spare, nor be pacified: according to thy ways, and according to thine inventions will I judge thee, saith our Lord.

15. 15

    And the word of our Lord was made to me, saying:

16. 16

    Son of man, behold I take from thee the thing that thine eyes desire in a plague: and thou shalt not lament, nor weep: neither shall thy tears run.

17. 17

    Sigh holding thy peace, thou shalt not make the mourning of the dead: let thy crown be tied round about thee, and thy shoes shall be on thy feet, neither shalt thou cover thy face with a cloth, neither shalt thou eat the meats of mourners.

18. 18

    I spake therefore to the people in the morning, and my wife died at even: and I did in the morning as he had commanded me.

19. 19

    And the people said to me: Why doest thou not tell us what these things signify, that thou doest?

20. 20

    And I said to them: The word of our Lord was made to me, saying:

21. 21

    Speak to the house of Israel: Thus saith our Lord God: Behold I will pollute my sanctuary, the pride of your empire, and the thing that your eyes desire, and upon which your soul quaketh for fear: your sons, and your daughters, which you have left, shall fall by the sword.

22. 22

    And you shall do as I have done: your faces with a cloth you shall not cover, and the meats of mourners you shall not eat.

23. 23

    You shall have crowns on your heads, & shoes on your feet: you shall not lament nor weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities, and every one shall groan toward his brother.

24. 24

    And Ezechiel shall be unto you for a portending sign: according to all things, that he hath done, shall you do when this shall come: & you shall know that I am the Lord God.

25. 25

    And thou son of man, behold in the day, wherein I will take away from them their strength, and the joy of dignity, and the desire of their eyes, whereupon their souls rest, their sons and daughters.

26. 26

    In that day when one flying shall come to thee, to tell thee:

27. 27

    in that day, I say, shall thy mouth be opened with him that flyeth, and thou shalt speak, and shalt be silent no more: and thou shalt be unto them for a portending sign, and you shall know that I am the Lord.