¹ And in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, write thee the name of the day, of this selfsame day: on this selfsame day the king of Babylon draws near to Jerusalem.

³ And propose a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Set on the pot, set [it] on, and also pour water into it.

⁴ Gather the pieces thereof into it, every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder; fill [it] with the choice bones:

⁵ take the choice of the flock; and also [put] a pile of wood under it, for the bones; make it boil well, and let the bones of it seethe therein.

⁶ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose rust is therein, and whose rust is not gone out of it! Bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it:

⁷ for 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.

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

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

¹⁰ Heap on the wood, kindle the fire, boil thoroughly the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned.

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

¹² She hath exhausted [her] labours, yet her great rust goeth not forth out of her: let her rust be in the fire.

¹³ In thy filthiness is lewdness, for I have purged thee, and thou art not pure. Thou shalt no more be purged from thy filthiness, till I have satisfied my fury upon thee.

¹⁴ I Jehovah have spoken [it]: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, nor will I repent. According to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁵ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

¹⁶ Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke; yet thou shalt not mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.

¹⁷ Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead; bind thy turban upon thee, and put thy sandals upon thy feet, and cover not the beard, and eat not the bread of men.

¹⁸ -- And I spoke unto 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 unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, which thou doest?

²⁰ And I said to them, The word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

²¹ Say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and your soul's longing; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left behind shall fall by the sword.

²² And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover the beard, neither eat the bread of men;

²³ and your turbans shall be upon your heads, and your sandals upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall waste away in your iniquities and moan one toward another.

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

²⁵ And 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 whereunto they lift up their soul, their sons and their daughters,

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

²⁷ In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him that 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] Jehovah.

¹ For Yahweh will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land. The foreigner will join himself with them, and they will unite with the house of Jacob.

² The peoples will take them, and bring them to their place. The house of Israel will possess them in Yahweh's land for servants and for handmaids. They will take as captives those whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.

³ It will happen in the day that Yahweh will give you rest from your sorrow, from your trouble, and from the hard service in which you were made to serve,

⁴ that you will take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, "How the oppressor has ceased! The golden city has ceased!"

⁵ Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers,

⁶ who struck the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, who ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained.

⁷ The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet. They break out song.

⁸ Yes, the fir trees rejoice with you, with the cedars of Lebanon, saying, "Since you are humbled, no lumberjack has come up against us."

⁹ Sheol from beneath has moved for you to meet you at your coming. It stirs up the dead for you, even all the rulers of the earth. It has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.

¹⁰ They all will answer and ask you, "Have you also become as weak as we are? Have you become like us?"

¹¹ Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, with the sound of your stringed instruments. Maggots are spread out under you, and worms cover you.

¹² How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low!

¹³ You said in your heart, "I will ascend into heaven! I will exalt my throne above the stars of God! I will sit on the mountain of assembly, in the far north!

¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds! I will make myself like the Most High!"

¹⁵ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit.

¹⁶ Those who see you will stare at you. They will ponder you, saying, "Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who shook kingdoms;

¹⁷ who made the world like a wilderness, and overthrew its cities; who didn't release his prisoners to their home?"

¹⁸ All the kings of the nations, sleep in glory, everyone in his own house.

¹⁹ But you are cast away from your tomb like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain, who are thrust through with the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit; like a dead body trodden under foot.

²⁰ You will not join them in burial, because you have destroyed your land. You have killed your people. The seed of evildoers will not be named forever.

²¹ Prepare for slaughter of his children because of the iniquity of their fathers, that they not rise up and possess the earth, and fill the surface of the world with cities.

²² "I will rise up against them," says Yahweh of Armies, "and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and son and son's son," says Yahweh.

²³ "I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water. I will sweep it with the broom of destruction," says Yahweh of Armies.

²⁴ Yahweh of Armies has sworn, saying, "Surely, as I have thought, so shall it happen; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:

²⁵ that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and tread him under foot on my mountains. Then his yoke will leave them, and his burden leave their shoulders.

²⁶ This is the plan that is determined for the whole earth. This is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.

²⁷ For Yahweh of Armies has planned, and who can stop it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?"

²⁸ This burden was in the year that king Ahaz died.

²⁹ Don't rejoice, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod that struck you is broken; for out of the serpent's root an adder will emerge, and his fruit will be a fiery flying serpent.

³⁰ The firstborn of the poor will eat, and the needy will lie down in safety; and I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant will be killed.

³¹ Howl, gate! Cry, city! You are melted away, Philistia, all of you; for smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.

³² What will they answer the messengers of the nation? That Yahweh has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people will take refuge.