Bible-Reading.com
  1. Tue: Isaiah 30-32
  2. Wed: 1 Samuel 1-6
  3. Thu: 1 Corinthians 15-16
Friday · Week 12
The Later Prophets

Ezekiel 24-25

Week 12 · about 9 min
  1. Sat: Psalms 1-8
  2. Sun: Exodus 6-9
  3. Mon: Mark 1-3

The siege of Jerusalem begins. Ezekiel loses his wife, and then he speaks against the neighboring nations.

The Day Ezekiel’s Wife Died

Son 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.

Ezekiel 24:16 (KJV)

Chapter 24 is dated to the exact day Babylon’s army surrounded Jerusalem. That same day God tells Ezekiel his wife will die and that he must not mourn in public. Ezekiel writes it plainly: “at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.” When people ask what it means, he tells them that when the temple, the delight of their eyes, falls, they’ll be too stunned to mourn. Prophets often paid a personal price for the message. Chapter 25 turns to the neighbors who cheered when Jerusalem fell. Ammon said “Aha,” and God noticed.

Reflect: Is there anything you love so much that losing it would leave you speechless?

Ezekiel 24

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

2Son 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.

3And 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.

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

5take 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.

6Therefore 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:

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 execute vengeance, I have set her blood upon the bare rock, that it should not be covered.

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

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

11Then 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.

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

13In 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.

14I 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.

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

16Son 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.

17Sigh 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.

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

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

21Say 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.

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

23and 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.

24Thus 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.

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

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

27In 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.

Ezekiel 25

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

2Son of man, set thy face against the children of Ammon, and prophesy against them;

3and say unto the children of Ammon, Hear the word of the Lord Jehovah. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was made desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity:

4therefore behold, I will give thee to the children of the east for a possession, and they shall set their encampments in thee, and make their dwellings in thee; they shall eat thy fruits, and they shall drink thy milk.

5And I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels, and the children of Ammon a couching-place for flocks: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.

6For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast clapped the hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the despite of thy soul against the land of Israel;

7therefore behold, I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and will give thee for a spoil to the nations; and I will cut thee off from the peoples, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee, and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah.

8Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the nations,

9therefore behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities even to the last of them, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kirjathaim,

10unto the children of the east, with the land of the children of Ammon; and I will give it them for a possession, that the children of Ammon may not be remembered among the nations:

11and I will execute judgments upon Moab, and they shall know that I am Jehovah.

12Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath made himself very guilty, and revenged himself upon them,

13therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will also stretch out my hand upon Edom; and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and unto Dedan shall they fall by the sword.

14And I will execute my vengeance upon Edom, by the hand of my people Israel; and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord Jehovah.

15Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with despite of soul, to destroy, from old hatred;

16therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I stretch out my hands upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Kerethites, and cause the remnant of the sea-coast to perish.

17And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.

Darby Translation (Darby). Public domain.