Ezekiel 7:17-27

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.[a]
19 They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will seem like something filthy.[b] Their silver and gold will be unable to save them in the day of the Lord's wrath.[c] 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[d] they made their abhorrent images from them, their detestable things.[e] 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.
22 I will turn My face from the wicked as they profane My treasured place. Violent men will enter it and profane it.
23 Forge the chain, for the land is filled with crimes of bloodshed, and the city is filled with violence.
24 So I will bring the most evil of nations to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the strong, and their sacred places will be profaned.
25 Anguish is coming! They will seek peace, but there will be none.
26 Disaster after disaster will come, and there will be rumor after rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but instruction will perish from the priests and counsel from the elders.
27 The king will mourn; the prince will be clothed in grief; and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will deal with them according to their own conduct, and I will judge them by their own standards. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Ezekiel 7:17-27 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 5

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