Ezekiel 7:11-21

11 Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness; none of them [will remain]: none of their multitude, none of their wealth, and none of the eminent[a] among them.
12 The time has come; the day has arrived. Let the buyer not rejoice and the seller not mourn, for wrath is on all her multitude.
13 The seller will certainly not return to what was sold as long as he and the buyer remain alive.[b] For the vision concerning all its people will not be revoked, and none of them will preserve his life because of his iniquity.
14 They have blown the trumpet and prepared everything, but no one goes to war, for My wrath is on all her multitude.
15 The sword is on the outside; plague and famine are on the inside. Whoever is in the field will die by the sword, and famine and plague will devour whoever is in the city.
16 The survivors among them will escape and live on the mountains like doves of the valley, all of them moaning, each over his own iniquity.
17 All their hands will become weak, and all [their] knees will turn to water.
18 They will put on sackcloth, and horror will overwhelm them. Shame will cover all [their] faces, and all their heads will be bald.[c]
19 They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will seem like something filthy.[d] Their silver and gold will be unable to save them in the day of the Lord's wrath.[e] They will not satisfy their appetites or fill their stomachs, for these were the stumbling blocks that brought about their iniquity.
20 He appointed His beautiful ornaments for majesty, but[f] they made their abhorrent images from them, their detestable things.[g] Therefore, I have made these into something filthy for them.
21 I will hand these things over to foreigners as plunder and to the wicked of the earth as spoil, and they will profane them.

Ezekiel 7:11-21 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 7

This chapter contains a prophecy of the speedy destruction of the Jews, as being just at hand; of the particular judgments that should come upon them; of the horror that should seize them, and the distress that all ranks of men among them should be in, a few only escaping, who are described as in mournful circumstances. The destruction in general is denounced as being very near; the end being come, which is often repeated; and as it is represented as sudden, so without mercy; which is declared, Eze 7:1-14; the particular judgments, sword, pestilence, and famine, are mentioned in Eze 7:15, and the few that should escape are compared to mourning doves, Eze 7:16; the trembling, horror, and shame that should be upon all, are intimated in Eze 7:17,18; the unprofitableness of their gold and silver to deliver them, and the unsatisfying nature of these things, are expressed, Eze 7:19; the profanation and destruction of their temple are prophesied of, Eze 7:20-22; and for their murder, rapine, and oppression, it is threatened that their houses should be possessed by the worst of Heathens, and their holy places defiled; and one calamity should come upon another; when their application to prophets, priests, and ancient men for counsel, would be in, vain, Eze 7:23-26; and king, prince, and people, should be in the most melancholy and distressed circumstances, Eze 7:27.

Footnotes 7

  • [a]. Some Hb mss, Syr, Vg read and no rest
  • [b]. Lit sold, while still in life is their life
  • [c]. Dt 14:1; Isa 15:2-3
  • [d]. Isa 2:20; 30:22
  • [e]. Zph 1:18
  • [f]. Or They turned their beautiful ornaments into objects of pride, and
  • [g]. Ezk 16:17
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