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Chapter 7

The End Has Come. The word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, now say: Thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: An end! The end comes upon the four corners of the land!(A) Now the end is upon you; I will unleash my anger against you, judge you according to your ways, and hold against you all your abominations. My eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity; but I will hold your conduct against you, since your abominations remain within you; then shall you know that I am the Lord.(B)

Thus says the Lord God: Evil upon evil! See it coming! An end is coming, the end is coming; it is ripe for you! See it coming! The crisis has come for you who dwell in the land! The time has come, near is the day: panic, no rejoicing on the mountains.(C) Soon now I will pour out my fury upon you and spend my anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and hold against you all your abominations.(D) My eye will not spare, nor will I take pity; I will hold your conduct against you since your abominations remain within you, then you shall know that it is I, the Lord, who strikes.(E)

10 The day is here! Look! it is coming! The crisis has come! Lawlessness is blooming, insolence budding; 11 the violent have risen up to wield a scepter of wickedness. But none of them shall remain; none of their crowd, none of their wealth, for none of them are innocent. 12 [a]The time has come, the day dawns. The buyer must not rejoice, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is coming upon all the throng.(F) 13 Assuredly, the seller shall not regain what was sold, as long as they all live; for the vision is for the whole crowd: it shall not be revoked! Yes, because of their guilt, they shall not hold on to life. 14 They will sound the trumpet and get everything ready, but no one will go out to battle, for my wrath weighs upon all the crowd.

15 The sword is outside; disease and hunger are within. Whoever is in the fields will die by the sword; whoever is in the city disease and hunger will devour.(G) 16 If their survivors flee, they will die on the mountains, moaning like doves of the valley on account of their guilt. 17 All their hands will hang limp, and all their knees[b] turn to water.(H) 18 (I)They put on sackcloth, horror clothes them; shame is on all their faces, all their heads are shaved bald.[c] 19 They fling their silver into the streets, and their gold is considered unclean.(J) Their silver and gold cannot save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their bellies, for it has been the occasion of their sin. 20 [d]In their beautiful ornaments they took pride; out of them they made their abominable images, their detestable things. For this reason I will make them unclean.(K) 21 I will hand them over as spoils to foreigners, as plunder to the wicked of the earth, so that they may defile them. 22 I will turn my face away from them. My treasure will be defiled; the violent will enter and defile it.(L) 23 They will wreak slaughter, for the land is filled with bloodshed and the city with violence.(M) 24 I will bring in the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to their proud strength,[e] and their sanctuaries will be defiled.(N) 25 When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there is none.(O) 26 Disaster after disaster, rumor upon rumor. They keep seeking a vision from the prophet; instruction from the priest is missing, and counsel from the elders.(P) 27 The king mourns, the prince is terror-stricken, the hands of the common people tremble. I will deal with them according to their ways, and according to their judgments I will judge them. They shall know that I am the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. 7:12–13 Normal affairs will cease to have any meaning in view of the disaster that is to come.
  2. 7:17 Hands…knees: image of profound terror; loss of control of body movement and functions.
  3. 7:18 Shaved bald: shaving the head was a sign of mourning.
  4. 7:20 Assyrian wall paintings show that statues of deities were often cast in precious metals and then decorated with jewelry. Cf. Is 40:19–20; 41:6–7; 44:9–20.
  5. 7:24 Proud strength: misplaced trust in the might and power of their kings and army. Cf. v. 22; 33:28 and related ideas in Is 2:12; 10:12; 13:11; Jer 48:29; Ez 24:21; 30:18.

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