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The End Is Near for Israel

The Lord spoke to me. “Mortal man,” he said, “this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to the land of Israel: This is the end for the whole land!

“Israel, the end has come. You will feel my anger, because I am judging you for what you have done. I will pay you back for all your disgusting conduct. I will not spare you or show you any mercy. I am going to punish you for the disgusting things you have done, so that you will know that I am the Lord.”

This is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: “One disaster after another is coming on you. It's all over. This is the end. You are finished. The end is coming for you people who live in the land. The time is near when there will be no more celebrations at the mountain shrines, only confusion.[a]

“Very soon now you will feel all the force of my anger. I am judging you for what you have done, and I will pay you back for all your disgusting conduct. I will not spare you or show you any mercy. I am going to punish you for the disgusting things you have done, so that you will know that I am the Lord and that I am the one who punishes you.”

10 The day of disaster is coming. Violence is flourishing. Pride is at its height.[b] 11 Violence produces more wickedness. Nothing of theirs will remain, nothing of their wealth, their splendor, or their glory.

12 The time is coming. The day is near when buying and selling will have no more meaning, because God's punishment will fall on everyone alike. 13 No merchants will live long enough to get back what they have lost, because God's anger is on everyone. Those who are evil cannot survive.[c] 14 The trumpet blows, and everyone gets ready. But no one goes off to war, for God's anger will fall on everyone alike.

Punishment for Israel's Sins

15 There is fighting in the streets, and sickness and hunger in the houses. Anyone who is out in the country will die in the fighting, and anyone in the city will be a victim of sickness and hunger. 16 Some will escape to the mountains like doves frightened from the valleys. All of them will moan over their sins.[d] 17 Everyone's hands will be weak, and their knees will shake. 18 They will put on sackcloth and they will tremble all over. Their heads will be shaved, and they will all be disgraced. 19 They will throw their gold and silver away in the streets like garbage, because neither silver nor gold can save them when the Lord pours out his fury. They cannot use it to satisfy their desires or fill their stomachs. Gold and silver led them into sin. 20 Once they were proud of their beautiful jewels, but they used them to make disgusting idols. That is why the Lord has made their wealth repulsive to them.

21 “I will let foreigners rob them,” says the Lord, “and lawbreakers will take all their wealth and defile it. 22 I will not interfere when my treasured Temple is profaned, when robbers break into it and defile it.

23 “Everything is in confusion[e]—the land is full of murders and the cities are full of violence. 24 I will bring the most evil nations here and let them have your homes. Your strongest men will lose their confidence when I let the nations profane the places where you worship. 25 Despair is coming. You will look for peace and never find it. 26 One disaster will follow another, and a steady stream of bad news will pour in. You will beg the prophets to reveal what they foresee. The priests will have nothing to teach the people, and the elders will have no advice to give. 27 The king will mourn, the prince will give up hope, and the people will shake with fear. I will punish you for all you have done, and will judge you in the same way as you have judged others. This will show you that I am the Lord.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 7:7 Probable text celebrations … confusion; Hebrew unclear.
  2. Ezekiel 7:10 Probable text Pride is at its height; Hebrew unclear.
  3. Ezekiel 7:13 Verse 13 in Hebrew is unclear.
  4. Ezekiel 7:16 Verse 16 in Hebrew is unclear.
  5. Ezekiel 7:23 One ancient translation Everything is in confusion; Hebrew unclear.

The End Has Come

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel:

“‘The end!(A) The end has come
    upon the four corners(B) of the land!
The end is now upon you,
    and I will unleash my anger against you.
I will judge you according to your conduct(C)
    and repay you for all your detestable practices.(D)
I will not look on you with pity;(E)
    I will not spare you.
I will surely repay you for your conduct
    and for the detestable practices among you.

“‘Then you will know that I am the Lord.’(F)

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘Disaster!(G) Unheard-of[a] disaster!
    See, it comes!
The end(H) has come!
    The end has come!
It has roused itself against you.
    See, it comes!
Doom has come upon you,
    upon you who dwell in the land.
The time has come! The day(I) is near!(J)
    There is panic, not joy, on the mountains.
I am about to pour out my wrath(K) on you
    and spend my anger against you.
I will judge you according to your conduct
    and repay you for all your detestable practices.(L)
I will not look on you with pity;
    I will not spare you.(M)
I will repay you for your conduct
    and for the detestable practices among you.(N)

“‘Then you will know that it is I the Lord who strikes you.(O)

10 “‘See, the day!
    See, it comes!
Doom has burst forth,
    the rod(P) has budded,
    arrogance has blossomed!
11 Violence(Q) has arisen,[b]
    a rod to punish the wicked.
None of the people will be left,
    none of that crowd—
none of their wealth,
    nothing of value.(R)
12 The time has come!
    The day has arrived!
Let not the buyer(S) rejoice
    nor the seller grieve,
    for my wrath is on the whole crowd.(T)
13 The seller will not recover
    the property that was sold—
    as long as both buyer and seller live.
For the vision concerning the whole crowd
    will not be reversed.
Because of their sins, not one of them
    will preserve their life.(U)

14 “‘They have blown the trumpet,(V)
    they have made all things ready,
but no one will go into battle,
    for my wrath(W) is on the whole crowd.
15 Outside is the sword;
    inside are plague and famine.
Those in the country
    will die by the sword;
those in the city
    will be devoured by famine and plague.(X)
16 The fugitives(Y) who escape
    will flee to the mountains.
Like doves(Z) of the valleys,
    they will all moan,
    each for their own sins.(AA)
17 Every hand will go limp;(AB)
    every leg will be wet with urine.(AC)
18 They will put on sackcloth(AD)
    and be clothed with terror.(AE)
Every face will be covered with shame,
    and every head will be shaved.(AF)

19 “‘They will throw their silver into the streets,(AG)
    and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean.
Their silver and gold
    will not be able to deliver them
    in the day of the Lord’s wrath.(AH)
It will not satisfy(AI) their hunger
    or fill their stomachs,
    for it has caused them to stumble(AJ) into sin.(AK)
20 They took pride in their beautiful jewelry
    and used it to make(AL) their detestable idols.
They made it into vile images;(AM)
    therefore I will make it a thing unclean for them.(AN)
21 I will give their wealth as plunder(AO) to foreigners
    and as loot to the wicked of the earth,
    who will defile it.(AP)
22 I will turn my face(AQ) away from the people,
    and robbers will desecrate the place I treasure.
They will enter it
    and will defile it.(AR)

23 “‘Prepare chains!
    For the land is full of bloodshed,(AS)
    and the city is full of violence.(AT)
24 I will bring the most wicked of nations
    to take possession of their houses.
I will put an end to the pride of the mighty,
    and their sanctuaries(AU) will be desecrated.(AV)
25 When terror comes,
    they will seek peace in vain.(AW)
26 Calamity upon calamity(AX) will come,
    and rumor upon rumor.
They will go searching for a vision from the prophet,(AY)
    priestly instruction in the law will cease,
    the counsel of the elders will come to an end.(AZ)
27 The king will mourn,
    the prince will be clothed with despair,(BA)
    and the hands of the people of the land will tremble.
I will deal with them according to their conduct,(BB)
    and by their own standards I will judge them.

“‘Then they will know that I am the Lord.(BC)’”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 7:5 Most Hebrew manuscripts; some Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac Disaster after
  2. Ezekiel 7:11 Or The violent one has become