Ezekiel’s Wife Dies as a Sign

¹⁵ And the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ¹⁶ “Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you the ^(A)desire of your eyes with a ^(B)blow; but you shall not ^(C)mourn, and you shall not weep, and your ^(D)tears shall not come. ¹⁷ Groan silently; make ^(E)no mourning for the dead. Bind on your headdress and put your shoes on your feet and do not cover your mustache and ^(F)do not eat the bread of men.” ¹⁸ So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And in the morning I did as I was commanded. ¹⁹ The people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things that you are doing mean for us?” ²⁰ Then I said to them, “The word of Yahweh came to me saying, ²¹ ‘Say to the house of Israel, “Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am about to profane My sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the ^(G)desire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul; and your ^(H)sons and your daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword. ²² And you will do as I have done; you will not cover your mustache, and you will not eat the bread of men. ²³ And your headdresses will be on your heads and your shoes on your feet. You ^(I)will not mourn, and you will not weep, but ^(J)you will rot away in your iniquities, and you will groan ^[a]to one another. ²⁴ Thus Ezekiel will be a ^(K)wondrous sign to you; according to all that he has done you will do; when it comes, then you will know that I am Lord Yahweh.’”

²⁵ ‘Now as for you, son of man, will it not be on the day when I take from them their ^(L)strong defense, the joy of their beauty, the desire of their eyes, and what lifts up their soul, their sons and their daughters, ²⁶ that on that day he who ^(M)escapes will come to you with a report for your ears? ²⁷ On that day your ^(N)mouth will be opened to him who escaped, and you will speak and be mute no longer. Thus you will be a wondrous sign to them, and they will know that I am Yahweh.’”