Ezekiel 19-24

Ezekiel 19

¹Moreover, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

²and say, What was thy mother? A lioness: she couched among lions, in the midst of the young lions she nourished her whelps.

³And she brought up one of her whelps; he became a young lion: and he learned to catch the prey, he devoured men.

⁴The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit: and they brought him with hooks unto the land of Egypt.

⁵Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion.

⁶And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion: and he learned to catch the prey, he devoured men.

⁷And he knew their palaces, and laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, because of the noise of his roaring.

⁸Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces: and they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.

⁹And they put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into strong holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰Thy mother was like a vine, in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.

¹¹And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and their stature was exalted among the thick boughs, and they were seen in their height with the multitude of their branches.

¹²But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire consumed them.

¹³And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.

¹⁴And fire is gone out of the rods of her branches, it hath devoured her fruit, so that there is in her no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.

Ezekiel 20

¹And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.

²And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

³Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD: Are ye come to inquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you.

⁴Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers;

⁵and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD: In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, Saying, I am the LORD your God;

⁶in that day I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:

⁷And I said unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.

⁸But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me; they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

⁹But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰So I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.

¹¹And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them.

¹²Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.

¹³But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they rejected my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly profaned: then I said I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.

¹⁴But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.

¹⁵Moreover also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;

¹⁶because they rejected my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, and profaned my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.

¹⁷Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness.

¹⁸And I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols:

¹⁹I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them:

²⁰and hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.

²¹But the children rebelled against me; they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them; they profaned my sabbaths: then I said I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.

²²Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not he profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them forth.

²³Moreover I lifted up mine hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries,

²⁴because they had not executed my judgments, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols.

²⁵Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and judgments wherein they should not live;

²⁶and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD.

²⁷Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD: In this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.

²⁸For when I had brought them into the land, which I lifted up mine hand to give unto them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering, there also they made their sweet savour, and they poured out there their drink offerings.

²⁹Then I said unto them, What meaneth the high place whereunto ye go? So the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day.

³⁰Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD: Do ye pollute yourselves after the manner of your fathers? and go ye a whoring after their abominations?

³¹and when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, do ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, unto this day? and shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you:

³²and that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all; in that ye say, We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.

³³As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I be king over you:

³⁴and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.

³⁵and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I plead with you face to face.

³⁶Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD.

³⁷And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;

³⁸and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

³⁹As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD: Go ye, serve every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but my holy name shall ye no more profane with your gifts, and with your idols.

⁴⁰For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.

⁴¹As a sweet savour will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.

⁴²And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I lifted up mine hand to give unto your fathers.

⁴³And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have polluted yourselves; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.

⁴⁴And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

⁴⁵And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

⁴⁶Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the South;

⁴⁷and say to the forest of the South, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby.

⁴⁸And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.

⁴⁹Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Is he not a speaker of parables?

Ezekiel 21

¹And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

²Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel;

³and say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD: Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.

⁴Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

⁵and all flesh shall know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath; it shall not return any more.

⁶Sigh therefore, thou son of man; with the breaking of thy loins and with bitterness shalt thou sigh before their eyes.

⁷And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt say, Because of the tidings, for it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and it shall be done, saith the Lord GOD.

⁸And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

⁹Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD: Say, A sword, a sword, it is sharpened, and also furbished:

¹⁰it is sharpened that it may make a slaughter; it is furbished that it may be as lightning: shall we then make mirth? the rod of my son, it contemneth every tree.

¹¹And it is given to be furbished, that it may be handled: the sword, it is sharpened, yea, it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.

¹²Cry and howl, son of man: for it is upon my people, it is upon all the princes of Israel: they are delivered over to the sword with my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh.

¹³For there is a trial; and what if even the rod that contemneth shall be no more? saith the Lord GOD.

¹⁴Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the deadly wounded: it is the sword of the great one that is deadly wounded, which entereth into their chambers.

¹⁵I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may melt, and their stumblings be multiplied: ah! it is made as lightning, it is pointed for slaughter.

¹⁶Gather thee together, go to the right; set thyself in array, go to the left; whithersoever thy face is set.

¹⁷I will also smite mine hands together, and I will satisfy my fury: I the LORD have spoken it.

¹⁸The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,

¹⁹Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; they twain shall come forth out of one land: and mark out a place, mark it out at the head of the way to the city.

²⁰Thou shalt appoint a way, for the sword to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.

²¹For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook the arrows to and fro, he consulted the teraphim, he looked in the liver.

²²In his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounts, to build forts.

²³And it shall be unto them as a vain divination in their sight, which have sworn oaths unto them: but he bringeth iniquity to remembrance, that they may be taken.

²⁴Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.

²⁵And thou, O deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity of the end;

²⁶thus saith the Lord GOD: Remove the mitre, and take off the crown: this shall be no more the same: exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high.

²⁷I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: this also shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.

²⁸And thou, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and say thou, A sword, a sword is drawn, for the slaughter it is furbished, to cause it to devour, that it may be as lightning:

²⁹whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine lies unto thee, to lay thee upon the necks of the wicked that are deadly wounded, whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity of the end.

³⁰Cause it to return into its sheath. In the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy birth, will I judge thee.

³¹And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee; I will blow upon thee with the fire of my wrath: and I will deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, skilful to destroy.

³²Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it.

Ezekiel 22

¹Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

²And thou, son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? then cause her to know all her abominations.

³And thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord GOD: A city that sheddeth blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that maketh idols against herself to defile her!

⁴Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed, and art defiled in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the nations, and a mocking to all the countries.

⁵Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, thou infamous one and full of tumult.

⁶Behold, the princes of Israel, every one according to his power, have been in thee to shed blood.

⁷In thee have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of thee, have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they wronged the fatherless and the widow.

⁸Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.

⁹Slanderous men have been in thee to shed blood: and in thee they have eaten upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they have committed lewdness.

¹⁰In thee have they discovered their fathers’ nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was unclean in her separation.

¹¹And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour’s wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father’s daughter.

¹²In thee have they taken bribes to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.

¹³Behold, therefore, I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.

¹⁴Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it.

¹⁵And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee through the countries; and I will consume thy filthiness out of thee.

¹⁶And thou shalt be profaned in thyself, in the sight of the nations; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

¹⁷And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

¹⁸Son of man, the house of Israel is become dross unto me: all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.

¹⁹Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Because ye are all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

²⁰As they gather silver and brass and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will lay you there, and melt you.

²¹Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and ye shalt be melted in the midst thereof.

²²As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you.

²³And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

²⁴Son of man, say unto her, thou art a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

²⁵There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in the midst thereof.

²⁶Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

²⁷Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey; to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.

²⁸And her prophets have daubed for them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.

²⁹The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yea, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

³⁰And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the fence, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

³¹Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I brought upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 23

¹The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,

²Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:

³and they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.

⁴And the names of them were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they became mine, and they bare sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.

⁵And Oholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours,

⁶which were clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.

⁷And she bestowed her whoredoms upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them: and on whomsoever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself.

⁸Neither hath, she left her whoredoms since the days of Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the teats of her virginity: and they poured out their whoredom upon her.

⁹Wherefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.

¹⁰These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and her they slew with the sword: and she became a byword among women; for they executed judgments upon her.

¹¹And her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her whoredoms which were more than the whoredoms of her sister.

¹²She doted upon the Assyrians, governors and rulers, her neighbours, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.

¹³And I saw that she was defiled; they both took one way.

¹⁴And she increased her whoredoms; for she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion,

¹⁵girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look upon, after the likeness of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their nativity.

¹⁶And as soon as she saw them she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.

¹⁷And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love; and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them.

¹⁸So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my soul was alienated from her, like as my soul was alienated from her sister.

¹⁹Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, remembering the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.

²⁰And she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.

²¹Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in the bruising of thy teats by the Egyptians for the breasts of thy youth.

²²Therefore, O Oholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy soul is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side;

²³the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: desirable young men, governors and rulers all of them, princes and men of renown, all of them riding upon horses.

²⁴And they shall come against thee with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with an assembly of peoples; they shall set themselves against thee with buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will commit the judgment unto them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.

²⁵And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal with thee in fury: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy residue shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.

²⁶They shall also strip thee of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.

²⁷Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.

²⁸For thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy soul is alienated:

²⁹and they shall deal with thee in hatred, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.

³⁰These things shall be done unto thee, for that thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.

³¹Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.

³²Thus saith the Lord GOD: Thou shalt drink of thy sister’s cup, which is deep and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much.

³³Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.

³⁴Thou shalt even drink it and drain it out, and thou shalt gnaw the sherds thereof, and shalt tear thy breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

³⁵Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.

³⁶The LORD said moreover unto me: Son of man, wilt thou judge Oholah and Oholibah? then declare unto them their abominations.

³⁷For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery; and they have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass through the fire unto them to be devoured.

³⁸Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.

³⁹For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of mine house.

⁴⁰And furthermore ye have sent for men that come from far: unto whom a messenger was sent, and, lo, they came; for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thine eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments;

⁴¹and satest upon a stately bed. with a table prepared before it, whereupon thou didst set mine incense and mine oil.

⁴²And the voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness; and they put bracelets upon the hands of them twain, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.

⁴³Then said I of her that was old in adulteries, Now will they commit whoredoms with her, and she with them.

⁴⁴And they went in unto her, as they go in unto an harlot: so went they in unto Oholah and unto Oholibah, the lewd women.

⁴⁵And righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.

⁴⁶For thus saith the Lord GOD: I will bring up an assembly against them, and will give them to be tossed to and fro and spoiled.

⁴⁷And the assembly shall stone them with stones, and despatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.

⁴⁸Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.

⁴⁹And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 24

¹Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

²Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this selfsame day: the king of Babylon drew close unto Jerusalem this selfsame day.

³And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD, Set on the caldron, set it on, and also pour water into it:

⁴gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.

⁵Take the choice of the flock, and pile also the bones under it: make it boil well; yea, let the bones thereof be seethed in the midst of it.

⁶Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city, to the caldron whose rust is therein, and whose rust is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; no lot is fallen upon it.

⁷For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the bare rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust;

⁸That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance, I have set her blood upon the bare rock, that it should not be covered.

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

¹⁰Heap on the wood, make the fire hot, boil well the flesh, and make thick the broth, and let the bones be burned.

¹¹Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that it may be hot, and the brass thereof may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the rust of it may be consumed.

¹²She hath wearied herself with toil: yet her great rust goeth not forth out of her; her rust goeth not forth by fire.

¹³In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have satisfied my fury upon thee.

¹⁴I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.

¹⁵Also the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

¹⁶Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.

¹⁷Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead, bind thy headtire upon thee, and put thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.

¹⁸So I spake unto the people in the morning; and at even my wife died: and I did in the morning as I was commanded.

¹⁹And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?

²⁰Then I said unto them, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

²¹Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left behind shall fall by the sword.

²²And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.

²³And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away in your iniquities, and moan one toward another.

²⁴Thus shall Ezekiel be unto you a sign; according to all that he hath done shall ye do: when this cometh, then shall ye know that I am the Lord GOD.

²⁵And thou, son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their heart, their sons and their daughters,

²⁶that in that day he that escapeth shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine ears?

²⁷In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: so shalt thou be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.