The Parable of the Cooking Pot

On the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year, the word of the LORD comes telling Ezekiel to record the date because Babylon's king has laid siege to Jerusalem. He is to speak a parable of a pot set on the fire, filled with water and the choicest cuts, as though preparing a rich meal. But the woe falls on the bloody city itself, the pot whose rust remains in it. Her blood has been openly shed and left uncovered, so God has set that blood on the bare rock to provoke wrath and vengeance.

I¹n 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: ⁴Put in the pieces of meat, ⁵Take the choicest of the flock ⁶Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ⁷For the blood she shed is still within her; ⁸In order to stir up wrath

The Lord GOD commands a great pile of wood for the pot and the thorough boiling of its contents, but then the emptied pot itself is set on the coals so its impurity may be heated out. Yet Jerusalem has wearied every effort at cleansing, and her thick corrosion still clings. Because her lewd uncleanness has refused purification, the LORD declares that she will not be cleansed until His wrath has spent itself on her. What He has spoken He will do without pity or relenting.

⁹Yes, this is what the Lord GOD says: ¹⁰Pile on the logs and kindle the fire; ¹¹Set the empty pot on its coals ¹²It has frustrated every effort; ¹³Because of the indecency of your uncleanness ¹⁴I, the LORD, have spoken;