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.
12. “‘Jerusalem might work hard to scrub away her stains. But that ‘rust’ will not go away! Only the fire of punishment will remove it.
13. “‘You sinned against me and became stained with sin. I wanted to wash you and make you clean, but the stains would not come out. I will not try washing you again until my hot anger is finished with you!