Ezekiel 24:4
New International Version
Put into it the pieces of meat, all the choice pieces—the leg and the shoulder. Fill it with the best of these bones;

New Living Translation
Fill it with choice pieces of meat— the rump and the shoulder and all the most tender cuts.

English Standard Version
put in it the pieces of meat, all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder; fill it with choice bones.

Berean Standard Bible
Put in the pieces of meat, every good piece—thigh and shoulder—fill it with choice bones.

King James Bible
Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.

New King James Version
Gather pieces of meat in it, Every good piece, The thigh and the shoulder. Fill it with choice cuts;

New American Standard Bible
Put in it the pieces of meat, Every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder; Fill it with choice bones.

NASB 1995
Put in it the pieces, Every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder; Fill it with choice bones.

NASB 1977
Put in it the pieces, Every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; Fill it with choice bones.

Legacy Standard Bible
Put in it the pieces, Every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder; Fill it with choice bones.

Amplified Bible
Put in it the pieces [of meat], Every good piece (the people of Jerusalem), the thigh and the shoulder; Fill it with choice bones.

Christian Standard Bible
Place the pieces of meat in it, every good piece — thigh and shoulder. Fill it with choice bones.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Place the pieces of meat in it, every good piece— thigh and shoulder. Fill it with choice bones.

American Standard Version
gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.

Contemporary English Version
Throw in the legs and shoulders of your finest sheep and put in the juicy bones.

English Revised Version
gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Cut the meat into pieces, all the best pieces, the thigh and shoulder. Fill the pot with the meatiest bones

Good News Translation
Put in the best pieces of meat--the shoulders and the legs--fill it with choice bony pieces too.

International Standard Version
Gather together the best pieces of meat on it— including the thighs and the shoulders— and fill it with the choicest bones.

Majority Standard Bible
Put in the pieces of meat, every good piece?thigh and shoulder?fill it with choice bones.

NET Bible
add the pieces of meat to it, every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder; fill it with choice bones.

New Heart English Bible
gather its pieces into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.

Webster's Bible Translation
Gather its pieces into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.

World English Bible
Gather its pieces into it, even every good piece: the thigh and the shoulder. Fill it with the choice bones.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
To gather its pieces to it, every good piece, "" Thigh and shoulder, to fill in the choice of the bones.

Young's Literal Translation
To gather its pieces unto it, every good piece, Thigh and shoulder, the choice of the bones to fill in.

Smith's Literal Translation
Gather its pieces into it, every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder; fill with the choice of the bones.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Heap together into if the pieces thereof, every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder, choice pieces and full of bones.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Pile together within it every morsel, every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder, the choice pieces and those full of bones.

New American Bible
Add to it pieces of meat, all choice pieces; With thigh and shoulder, with choice cuts fill it.

New Revised Standard Version
put in it the pieces, all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder; fill it with choice bones.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And put into it pieces of meat which are good and fat, a shoulder whose bone is broken from the choicest of the flock.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And cast into it pieces that are good and fat, the shoulder of the choicest of sheep that has its bone taken out
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Gather into it the pieces belonging to it, Even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; Fill it with the choice bones.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
and put the pieces into it, every prime piece, the leg and shoulder taken off from the bones,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Parable of the Cooking Pot
3Now speak a parable to this rebellious house and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Put the pot on the fire; put it on and pour in the water. 4Put in the pieces of meat, every good piece— thigh and shoulder— fill it with choice bones. 5Take the choicest of the flock and pile the fuel beneath it. Bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it.’…

Cross References
Jeremiah 1:13-14
Again the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “What do you see?” “I see a boiling pot,” I replied, “and it is tilting toward us from the north.” / Then the LORD said to me, “Disaster from the north will be poured out on all who live in the land.

Isaiah 31:9
Their rock will pass away for fear, and their princes will panic at the sight of the battle standard,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 6:29
The bellows blow fiercely, blasting away the lead with fire. The refining proceeds in vain, for the wicked are not purged.

Micah 3:2-3
You hate good and love evil. You tear the skin from my people and strip the flesh from their bones. / You eat the flesh of my people after stripping off their skin and breaking their bones. You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot, like meat in a cauldron.”

Nahum 3:14-15
Draw your water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses. Work the clay and tread the mortar; repair the brick kiln! / There the fire will devour you; the sword will cut you down and consume you like a young locust. Make yourself many like the young locust; make yourself many like the swarming locust!

Zechariah 13:9
This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”

Malachi 3:2-3
But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap. / And He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.

2 Kings 25:1-3
So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it. / And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year. / By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.

Lamentations 4:10
The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

Proverbs 17:3
A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but the LORD is the tester of hearts.

Matthew 13:49-50
So will it be at the end of the age: The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous / and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Luke 3:16-17
John answered all of them: “I baptize you with water, but One more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. / His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

1 Corinthians 3:13
his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work.

1 Peter 1:7
so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 3:18
I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.


Treasury of Scripture

Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.

Ezekiel 22:18-22
Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver…

Micah 3:2,3
Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones; …

Matthew 7:2
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

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Ezekiel 24
1. Under the parable of a boiling pot
6. is shown the irrevocable destruction of Jerusalem
15. By the sign of Ezekiel not mourning for the death of his wife
19. is shown the calamity of the Jews to be beyond all sorrow














Put in the pieces of meat
This phrase signifies the beginning of a symbolic act commanded by God to Ezekiel. The Hebrew root for "put" is "נָתַן" (natan), which means to give or place. This act of placing the pieces of meat into the pot is a metaphor for the gathering of the people of Jerusalem, who are about to face judgment. The "pieces of meat" represent the inhabitants of the city, each piece symbolizing individuals or groups within the society. This imagery is consistent with the sacrificial language often used in the Old Testament, where offerings are prepared for a purpose, in this case, the impending judgment.

every good piece
The emphasis on "every good piece" highlights the completeness and thoroughness of the judgment. The Hebrew word for "good" is "טוֹב" (tov), which can mean good, pleasant, or desirable. This suggests that even those who are considered valuable or important in society are not exempt from the coming judgment. It reflects the impartiality of God's justice, where all are subject to His righteous standards.

thigh and shoulder
These specific parts of the animal are often considered the choicest cuts, symbolizing strength and support. In the context of ancient Israelite culture, the thigh and shoulder were significant in sacrificial offerings, often reserved for priests or leaders. By including these parts, the text underscores that even the most powerful and influential individuals in Jerusalem will not escape God's judgment. It serves as a reminder that human strength and status are insignificant before the sovereignty of God.

fill it with choice bones
The phrase "choice bones" further intensifies the imagery of a complete and thorough judgment. The Hebrew word for "choice" is "מִבְחָר" (mivchar), meaning select or best. Bones, in this context, can symbolize the very structure and foundation of the society. By filling the pot with choice bones, the text conveys the idea that the very core and essence of Jerusalem will be subjected to God's purifying judgment. This imagery is a powerful reminder of the seriousness of sin and the comprehensive nature of divine justice.

(4) The pieces thereof.--Literally, its pieces, the pieces which pertain to the cauldron, the Jews, whose centre and capital is Jerusalem. This was the natural effect of Nebuchadnezzar's campaign; the people from every side sought refuge in the city. (Comp. Jeremiah 35:11.) The mention of the "good piece," "the choice bones," and "the choice of the flock" (Ezekiel 24:5), is not for the purpose of designating any particular class, but only to emphasise that all, even the best, are to be included.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Put in
אֱסֹ֤ף (’ĕ·sōp̄)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 622: To gather for, any purpose, to receive, take away, remove

the pieces
נְתָחֶ֙יהָ֙ (nə·ṯā·ḥe·hā)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 5409: A piece (of a divided carcass)

of meat,
אֵלֶ֔יהָ (’ê·le·hā)
Preposition | third person feminine singular
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

every
כָּל־ (kāl-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

good
ט֖וֹב (ṭō·wḇ)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 2896: Pleasant, agreeable, good

piece—
נֵ֥תַח (nê·ṯaḥ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5409: A piece (of a divided carcass)

thigh
יָרֵ֣ךְ (yā·rêḵ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 3409: Thigh,loin, flank, side

and shoulder—
וְכָתֵ֑ף (wə·ḵā·ṯêp̄)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 3802: The shoulder, side-piece, lateral projection of anything

fill
מַלֵּֽא׃ (mal·lê)
Verb - Piel - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 4390: To fill, be full of

it with choice
מִבְחַ֥ר (miḇ·ḥar)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4005: Choicest, best

bones.
עֲצָמִ֖ים (‘ă·ṣā·mîm)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 6106: A bone, the body, the substance, selfsame


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OT Prophets: Ezekiel 24:4 Gather its pieces into it even every (Ezek. Eze Ezk)
Ezekiel 24:3
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