who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. This is the cauldron, and we are the meat.’
Parallel translations
- KJV Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.
- BSB They are saying, ‘Is not the time near to build houses? The city is the cooking pot, and we are the meat.’
- NKJV who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses; this city is the caldron, and we are the meat.’
- NASB who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. This city is the pot and we are the meat.’
- NLT They say to the people, ‘Is it not a good time to build houses? This city is like an iron pot. We are safe inside it like meat in a pot.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The leaders boast a false security, saying the city is a protective cauldron and they are the safe meat within it. It exposes their presumption that judgment will not touch them.
Overview
Their proverb, "this is the cauldron and we are the meat," claims the city walls will protect them like a pot shields its contents. They dismiss the prophets' warnings of imminent destruction ("the time is not near to build"). This complacent confidence ignores God's pronounced judgment. False security apart from God always fails, while true refuge is found only in the Lord, supremely in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ezek 12:27“Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, ‘The vision that he sees is for many day to come, and he prophesies of times that are far off.’
- Ezek 12:22“Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days are prolonged, and every vision fails?’
- Jer 1:11–13Moreover Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”
- Ezek 11:7–11“‘Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Your slain whom you have laid in the middle of it, they are the meat, and this is the cauldron; but you will be brought out of the middle of it.
- Ezek 7:7Your doom has come to you, inhabitant of the land! The time has come! The day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting, on the mountains.
- Ezek 24:3–14Utter a parable to the rebellious house, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Set on the cauldron, set it on, and also pour water into it:
- 2 Pet 3:4and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
- Amos 6:5who strum on the strings of a harp; who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;
- Isa 5:19Who say, “Let him make speed, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!”
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Original language
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