Take the choice of the flock. Also pile fuel bones under it, Make it boil well, And let the cuts simmer in it.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Take the choice of the flock, and also a pile of wood for the bones under the cauldron; make it boil well; yes, let its bones be boiled within it.
- KJV Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein.
- BSB Take the choicest of the flock and pile the fuel beneath it. Bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it.’
- NASB “Take the choicest of the flock, And also stack wood under the pot. Make it boil vigorously. Also boil its bones in it.”
- NLT Use only the best sheep from the flock, and heap fuel on the fire beneath the pot. Bring the pot to a boil, and cook the bones along with the meat.
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 best of the flock is chosen and the fire stoked to make the pot boil fiercely. It intensifies the picture of relentless, consuming judgment.
Overview
Piling wood beneath the cauldron and bringing it to a vigorous boil portrays the heat and severity of the siege. 'The choice of the flock' again emphasizes that judgment falls even on the finest. The escalating heat foreshadows that this is no light chastening but a thorough purging.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Jer 52:10The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he killed also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
- Jer 52:24–27The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold:
- Jer 39:6Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes. The king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah.
- Ezek 34:20Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
- Rev 19:20The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
- Ezek 20:47and tell the forest of the South, ‘Hear Yahweh’s word: Thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned thereby.
- Ezek 34:16–17I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice.
- Ezek 24:9–10Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great.
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The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 24:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.