Death of Ezekiel’s Wife Is a Sign

¹⁵ Also the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁶ “Son of man, listen carefully, I am about to take away from you the desire of your eyes [your wife] with a single stroke. Yet you shall not mourn and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not flow. ¹⁷ Sigh and groan in silence; do not mourn for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your sandals on your feet, and do not cover your mustache or eat the bread of [mourners furnished by other] men.” ¹⁸ So I spoke to the people in the morning, and ^[a]in the evening my wife died. And the next morning I did as I was commanded. ¹⁹ The people said to me, “These things that you are doing—tell us, what do they mean for us?” ²⁰ Then I answered them, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²¹ ‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will ^[b]profane My sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind [in Jerusalem] will fall by the sword. ²² You will do as I [Ezekiel] have done; you shall not cover your mustache nor eat the bread of [mourning brought to you by other] men. ²³ Your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep, but you will rot away in your sins and you will groan to one another.^{(A) 24} So Ezekiel will be a sign to you; in accordance with all that he has done you will do. And when this [destruction of the temple] comes, then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord God.’”

²⁵ ‘As for you, son of man, on the day when I take their strength and their stronghold from them, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes and ^[c]their heart’s [chief] delight (the temple), and I also take their sons and their daughters, ²⁶ that on that day a survivor will come to you to let you hear [of the destruction of Jerusalem] with your [own] ears. ²⁷ On that day ^[d]your mouth will be opened to him who escaped, and you will speak and no longer be mute. In this way you shall be a sign to them, and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.’”