Ezekiel 24:12-18

Bible Text

[12] She has wearied [herself] with toil; yet her great rust doesn't go forth out of her; her rust doesn't [go forth] by fire. [13] In your filthiness is lewdness: because I have cleansed you and you weren't cleansed, you shall not be cleansed from your filthiness any more, until I have caused my wrath toward you to rest. [14] I, Yahweh, have spoken it: it shall happen, 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, says the Lord Yahweh. [15] Also the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, [16] Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke: yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, neither shall your tears run down. [17] Sigh, but not aloud, make no mourning for the dead; bind your headdress on you, and put your shoes on your feet, and don't cover your lips, and don't eat men's bread. [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.

Babylon was the Mesopotamian empire where Ezekiel lived among the exiles, while Jerusalem was Judah’s capital, still facing Babylonian siege. In this passage, Jerusalem’s entrenched corruption brings God’s announced judgment, and Ezekiel’s wife’s death becomes a sign of the coming devastation and mourning.

Places in this passage

Ezekiel 24:12-18 mentions Babylon and Jerusalem.

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