Isaiah 24:21-22

The Lord Will Become King

24:21 At that time ¹  the Lord will punish ² 

the heavenly forces in the heavens ³ 

and the earthly kings on the earth.

24:22 They will be imprisoned in a pit, ⁴ 

locked up in a prison,

and after staying there for a long time, ⁵  they will be punished. ⁶ 

Ezekiel 22:19-21

22:19 Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Because all of you ⁷  have become slag, look out! – I am about to gather you in the middle of Jerusalem. ⁸  22:20 As silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin are gathered in a furnace so that the fire can melt them, so I will gather you in my anger and in my rage. I will deposit you there ⁹  and melt you. 22:21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my fury, and you will be melted in it.

Ezekiel 24:3-11

24:3 Recite a proverb to this rebellious house ¹⁰  and say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘Set on the pot, ¹¹  set it on,

pour water in it too;

24:4 add the pieces of meat to it,

every good piece,

the thigh and the shoulder;

fill it with choice bones.

24:5 Take the choice bone of the flock,

heap up bones under it;

boil rapidly,

and boil its bones in it.

24:6 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says:

Woe to the city of bloodshed,

the pot whose rot ¹²  is in it,

whose rot has not been removed ¹³  from it!

Empty it piece by piece.

No lot has fallen on it. ¹⁴ 

24:7 For her blood was in it;

she poured it on an exposed rock;

she did not pour it on the ground to cover it up with dust.

24:8 To arouse anger, to take vengeance,

I have placed her blood on an exposed rock so that it cannot be covered up.

24:9 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says:

Woe to the city of bloodshed!

I will also make the pile high.

24:10 Pile up the bones, kindle the fire;

cook the meat well, mix in the spices,

let the bones be charred.

24:11 Set the empty pot on the coals, ¹⁵ 

until it becomes hot and its copper glows,

until its uncleanness melts within it and its rot ¹⁶  is consumed.

¹ tn Or “in that day” (so KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

² tn Heb “visit [in judgment].”

³ tn Heb “the host of the height in the height.” The “host of the height/heaven” refers to the heavenly luminaries (stars and planets, see, among others, Deut 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kgs 17:16; 21:3, 5; 23:4-5; 2 Chr 33:3, 5) that populate the divine/heavenly assembly in mythological and prescientific Israelite thought (see Job 38:7; Isa 14:13).

⁴ tn Heb “they will be gathered [in] a gathering [as] a prisoner in a cistern.” It is tempting to eliminate אֲסֵפָה (’asefah, “a gathering”) as dittographic or as a gloss, but sound repetition is one of the main characteristics of the style of this section of the chapter.

⁵ tn Heb “and after a multitude of days.”

⁶ tn Heb “visited” (so KJV, ASV). This verse can mean to visit for good or for evil. The translation assumes the latter, based on v. 21a. However, BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד B.Niph.2 suggests the meaning “visit graciously” here, in which case one might translate “they will be released.”

⁷ tn The Hebrew second person pronoun is masculine plural here and in vv. 19b-21, indicating that the people are being addressed.

⁸ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁹ tn Heb “I will put.” No object is supplied in the Hebrew, prompting many to emend the text to “I will blow.” See BHS and verse 21.

¹⁰ sn The book of Ezekiel frequently refers to the Israelites as a rebellious house (Ezek 2:5, 6, 8; 3:9, 26-27; 12:2-3, 9, 25; 17:12; 24:3).

¹¹ sn See Ezek 11:3-12.

¹² tn Or “rust.”

¹³ tn Heb “has not gone out.”

¹⁴ tn Here “lot” may refer to the decision made by casting lots; it is not chosen at all.

¹⁵ tn Heb “set it upon its coals, empty.”

¹⁶ tn Or “rust” (so also in v. 12).