American King James Version - AKJV - 1999
Ezekiel 24
1
Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Reference
2
Son of man, write you the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.
Reference
3
And utter a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them, Thus said the Lord GOD; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it:
Reference
Parallel theme
Ezekiel 11:3
Ezekiel 17:2
Ezekiel 2:3
Ezekiel 2:6
Psalm 78:2
Ezekiel 2:8
References God
Ezekiel 20:49
References Lord
Isaiah 1:2
Isaiah 30:9
Isaiah 30:1
4
Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.
5
Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein.
Reference
6
Why thus said the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall on it.
Reference
Blood
Ezekiel 22:2
Nahum 3:1
Ezekiel 22:27
2 Kings 24:4
Micah 7:2
Parallel theme
Nahum 3:10
Obadiah 1:11
7
For her blood is in the middle of her; she set it on the top of a rock; she poured it not on the ground, to cover it with dust;
Reference
8
That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood on the top of a rock, that it should not be covered.
9
Therefore thus said the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great.
Reference
10
Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned.
11
Then set it empty on the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed.
Reference
12
She has wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire.
Reference
13
In your filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged you, and you were not purged, you shall not be purged from your filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest on you.
Reference
14
I 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 your ways, and according to your doings, shall they judge you, said the Lord GOD.
Reference
Judgment
Ezekiel 18:30
Parallel theme
Matthew 16:27
Isaiah 3:11
Isaiah 55:11
Psalm 33:9
Ezekiel 9:10
References God
Ezekiel 5:11
References Lord
Jeremiah 23:20
Jeremiah 13:14
Ezekiel 7:4
15
Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
16
Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke: yet neither shall you mourn nor weep, neither shall your tears run down.
Reference
17
Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of your head on you, and put on your shoes on your feet, and cover not your lips, and eat not the bread of men.
Reference
18
So I spoke to 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 to me, Will you not tell us what these things are to us, that you do so?
Reference
20
Then I answered them, The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
21
Speak to the house of Israel, Thus said the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pities; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left shall fall by the sword.
Reference
Parallel theme
Jeremiah 7:14
Ezekiel 24:16
References Lord
Jeremiah 6:11
Temple
Psalm 27:4
Psalm 84:1
Word
Ezekiel 23:47
Ezekiel 23:25
22
And you shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.
23
And your tires shall be on your heads, and your shoes on your feet: you shall not mourn nor weep; but you shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another.
Reference
24
Thus Ezekiel is to you a sign: according to all that he has done shall you do: and when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
Reference
25
Also, you 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 minds, their sons and their daughters,
Reference
26
That he that escapes in that day shall come to you, to cause you to hear it with your ears?
Summary of Ezekiel 24
Ezekiel 24 marks a major turning point in the book because the final Babylonian siege of Jerusalem begins on the exact day identified by Ezekiel, transforming the prophet's earlier warnings about Jerusalem's coming destruction into an event that is now actively taking place.
The chapter opens with God instructing Ezekiel to record the date, which corresponds to January 15, 588 BC, because Babylon's king has begun the siege of Jerusalem.
This precise dating is significant because Ezekiel's prophecy is not presented merely as a general warning about something that might happen someday; the prophet is announcing an event that is beginning at that very moment.
God then gives Ezekiel the familiar image of a boiling cooking pot.
Jerusalem is represented by the pot, while its inhabitants are represented by pieces of meat placed inside it.
The best pieces are selected and the fire underneath the pot is intensified, creating an image of a city that has been gathered together and placed under extreme pressure.
The pot is described as polluted because its impurities have remained inside despite attempts to remove them.
This represents Jerusalem's deep and persistent corruption, particularly its violence, injustice, idolatry, and refusal to respond to repeated warnings.
The image becomes increasingly severe as the pot is heated until its contents are thoroughly boiled and even the bones are burned.
The empty pot is then placed directly onto the fire so that its impurities can be consumed.
The message is clear: Jerusalem's judgment will not be partial.
God explains that He has attempted to cleanse the city, but the people have refused to become clean, so the coming destruction will represent the final stage of judgment after generations of warnings and opportunities for repentance.
The chapter then changes from a national symbol to an intensely personal tragedy in Ezekiel's own life.
God tells Ezekiel that his wife, described as the delight of his eyes, will suddenly die.
Yet Ezekiel is instructed not to perform the normal public mourning rituals.
He must continue his daily life and allow his restrained grief to become another prophetic sign.
When the people ask him what his unusual behavior means, Ezekiel explains that the death of his wife represents something far larger: the people themselves are about to lose what they consider most precious, particularly the Temple, Jerusalem, and members of their families.
The Temple is described as the people's beautiful and treasured sanctuary and the pride of their eyes.
Its destruction will therefore be more than the loss of a building.
It will represent the collapse of the visible center of their national identity and worship.
When Jerusalem falls, many of their sons and daughters will die, and the survivors will experience such profound grief that their normal expressions of mourning will be disrupted by the magnitude of the disaster.
Ezekiel's personal experience therefore becomes a living illustration of what the nation will experience.
His wife's death is not presented as punishment for Ezekiel's personal behavior; instead, God uses Ezekiel's personal loss as a prophetic sign of the greater national loss that is coming.
The final verses look toward the moment when a survivor from Jerusalem will reach the exiles with news of the city's destruction.
At that point, Ezekiel's message will be confirmed, and his mouth will be opened so that he can speak more freely.
This transition is important because much of Ezekiel's early ministry centers on warning and judgment, while the later portions of the book increasingly move toward restoration, renewal, and hope.
Historically, the events described in this chapter point toward the Babylonian siege that began in 588 BC and ended with the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC, when the city was conquered, the Temple was destroyed, the monarchy collapsed, and large numbers of people were killed or deported.
The central message is that Ezekiel 24 announces the beginning of Jerusalem's final siege and uses the image of a polluted boiling pot to show that the city's corruption has become so deeply established that judgment can no longer be avoided, while the precise dating of the prophecy demonstrates that Ezekiel's warning coincides with the beginning of the Babylonian assault, and the later account of Ezekiel's wife's sudden death transforms his own personal grief into a prophetic picture of the much greater national grief that will come when Jerusalem, the Temple, and many of the people's sons and daughters are lost, so that the destruction of the city becomes both the consequence of generations of violence, idolatry, injustice, and rebellion and the fulfillment of Ezekiel's earlier warnings, while the eventual arrival of a survivor from Jerusalem will confirm that God's word through Ezekiel has come true and will mark an important transition in the prophet's ministry from announcing unavoidable judgment toward the future messages of restoration and hope that will follow.
The chapter opens with God instructing Ezekiel to record the date, which corresponds to January 15, 588 BC, because Babylon's king has begun the siege of Jerusalem.
This precise dating is significant because Ezekiel's prophecy is not presented merely as a general warning about something that might happen someday; the prophet is announcing an event that is beginning at that very moment.
God then gives Ezekiel the familiar image of a boiling cooking pot.
Jerusalem is represented by the pot, while its inhabitants are represented by pieces of meat placed inside it.
The best pieces are selected and the fire underneath the pot is intensified, creating an image of a city that has been gathered together and placed under extreme pressure.
The pot is described as polluted because its impurities have remained inside despite attempts to remove them.
This represents Jerusalem's deep and persistent corruption, particularly its violence, injustice, idolatry, and refusal to respond to repeated warnings.
The image becomes increasingly severe as the pot is heated until its contents are thoroughly boiled and even the bones are burned.
The empty pot is then placed directly onto the fire so that its impurities can be consumed.
The message is clear: Jerusalem's judgment will not be partial.
God explains that He has attempted to cleanse the city, but the people have refused to become clean, so the coming destruction will represent the final stage of judgment after generations of warnings and opportunities for repentance.
The chapter then changes from a national symbol to an intensely personal tragedy in Ezekiel's own life.
God tells Ezekiel that his wife, described as the delight of his eyes, will suddenly die.
Yet Ezekiel is instructed not to perform the normal public mourning rituals.
He must continue his daily life and allow his restrained grief to become another prophetic sign.
When the people ask him what his unusual behavior means, Ezekiel explains that the death of his wife represents something far larger: the people themselves are about to lose what they consider most precious, particularly the Temple, Jerusalem, and members of their families.
The Temple is described as the people's beautiful and treasured sanctuary and the pride of their eyes.
Its destruction will therefore be more than the loss of a building.
It will represent the collapse of the visible center of their national identity and worship.
When Jerusalem falls, many of their sons and daughters will die, and the survivors will experience such profound grief that their normal expressions of mourning will be disrupted by the magnitude of the disaster.
Ezekiel's personal experience therefore becomes a living illustration of what the nation will experience.
His wife's death is not presented as punishment for Ezekiel's personal behavior; instead, God uses Ezekiel's personal loss as a prophetic sign of the greater national loss that is coming.
The final verses look toward the moment when a survivor from Jerusalem will reach the exiles with news of the city's destruction.
At that point, Ezekiel's message will be confirmed, and his mouth will be opened so that he can speak more freely.
This transition is important because much of Ezekiel's early ministry centers on warning and judgment, while the later portions of the book increasingly move toward restoration, renewal, and hope.
Historically, the events described in this chapter point toward the Babylonian siege that began in 588 BC and ended with the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC, when the city was conquered, the Temple was destroyed, the monarchy collapsed, and large numbers of people were killed or deported.
The central message is that Ezekiel 24 announces the beginning of Jerusalem's final siege and uses the image of a polluted boiling pot to show that the city's corruption has become so deeply established that judgment can no longer be avoided, while the precise dating of the prophecy demonstrates that Ezekiel's warning coincides with the beginning of the Babylonian assault, and the later account of Ezekiel's wife's sudden death transforms his own personal grief into a prophetic picture of the much greater national grief that will come when Jerusalem, the Temple, and many of the people's sons and daughters are lost, so that the destruction of the city becomes both the consequence of generations of violence, idolatry, injustice, and rebellion and the fulfillment of Ezekiel's earlier warnings, while the eventual arrival of a survivor from Jerusalem will confirm that God's word through Ezekiel has come true and will mark an important transition in the prophet's ministry from announcing unavoidable judgment toward the future messages of restoration and hope that will follow.