1. The word of the Lord came to me. This was on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year of exile. He said,
2. “Son of man, write today’s date and this note: ‘On this date the army of the king of Babylon surrounded Jerusalem.’
3. The people there refuse to obey me. I have a story with a message for them. Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “‘Put the pot on the fire. Put on the pot and pour in the water.
4. Put in the pieces of meat. Put in every good piece, the thighs and the shoulders. Fill the pot with the best bones.
5. Use the best animals in the flock. Pile the wood under the pot, and boil the pieces of meat. Boil the soup until even the bones are cooked.
6. “‘So this is what the Lord GOD says: It will be bad for Jerusalem. It will be bad for that city of murderers. Jerusalem is like a pot with rust on it, and those spots of rust cannot be removed! That pot is not clean, and the rust cannot be removed, so the meat must be thrown out and not divided among the priests.
7. Jerusalem is like a pot with rust on it. This is because the blood from the murders is still there! She put the blood on the bare rock. She did not pour the blood on the ground and cover it with dirt.
8. I put her blood on the bare rock so that it would not be covered. I did this so that people would become angry and punish her for killing innocent people.
9. “‘So this is what the Lord GOD says: It will be bad for that city of murderers! I will pile up plenty of wood for the fire.
10. Put plenty of wood under the pot. Light the fire. Cook the meat until it is well done. Mix in the spices, and let the bones be burned up.
11. Then let the pot stand empty on the coals. Let it become so hot that its stains begin to glow. Those stains will be melted away. The rust will be destroyed.