Yehezkiel 24:10-16

24:10 Pile up the bones, kindle the fire;

cook the meat well, mix in the spices,

let the bones be charred.

24:11 Set the empty pot on the coals, ¹ 

until it becomes hot and its copper glows,

until its uncleanness melts within it and its rot ²  is consumed.

24:12 It has tried my patience; ³ 

yet its thick rot is not removed ⁴  from it.

Subject its rot to the fire! ⁵ 

24:13 You mix uncleanness with obscene conduct. ⁶ 

I tried to cleanse you, ⁷  but you are not clean.

You will not be cleansed from your uncleanness ⁸ 

until I have exhausted my anger on you.

24:14 “‘I the Lord have spoken; judgment ⁹  is coming and I will act! I will not relent, or show pity, or be sorry! ¹⁰  I will judge you ¹¹  according to your conduct ¹²  and your deeds, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

Ezekiel’s Wife Dies

24:15 The word of Lord came to me: 24:16 “Son of man, realize that I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you with a jolt, ¹³  but you must not mourn or weep or shed tears.

[24:11]  ¹ tn Heb “set it upon its coals, empty.”

[24:11]  ² tn Or “rust” (so also in v. 12).

[24:12]  ³ tn Heb “(with) toil she has wearied.” The meaning of the statement is unclear in the Hebrew text; some follow the LXX and delete it. The first word in the statement (rendered “toil” in the literal translation above) occurs only here in the OT, and the verb “she has wearied” lacks a stated object. Elsewhere the Hiphil of the verb refers to wearying someone or trying someone’s patience. The feminine subject is apparently the symbolic pot.

[24:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “does not go out.”

[24:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “in fire its rust.” The meaning of the expression is unclear. The translation understands the statement as a command to burn the rust away. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:768.

[24:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “in your uncleanness (is) obscene conduct.”

[24:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “because I cleansed you.” In this context (see especially the very next statement), the statement must refer to divine intention and purpose. Despite God’s efforts to cleanse his people, they resisted him and remained morally impure.

[24:13]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text adds the word “again.”

[24:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “it”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:14]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps, “change my mind.”

[24:14]  ¹¹ tc Some medieval Hebrew mss and the major ancient versions read a first person verb here. Most Hebrew mss read have an indefinite subject, “they will judge you,” which could be translated, “you will be judged.”

[24:14]  ¹² tn Heb “ways.”

[24:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “a strike.”