Ezekiel 7

The End Has Come

1 A message came to me from the Lord. He said,
2 "Son of man, I am the LORD and King. I say to the land of Israel, 'The end has come! It has come on the four corners of the land.
3 The end has now come for you. I will pour out my anger on you. I will judge you based on how you have lived. I will pay you back for all of your evil practices. I hate them.
4 " 'I will not spare you or feel sorry for you. You can be sure that I will pay you back in keeping with how you have lived. I will judge you for your evil practices. I hate them. You will know that I am the Lord.'
5 "I am the LORD and King. I say, 'Horrible trouble is coming! No one has ever heard of anything like it.
6 " 'The end has come! The end has come! It has stirred itself up against you. It is here!
7 Death has come on you who live in the land. The time for you to be destroyed has come. The day when it will happen is near. There is no joy on your mountains. There is nothing but panic.
8 " 'I am about to pour out all of my burning anger on you. I will judge you based on how you have lived. I will pay you back for all of your evil practices. I hate them.
9 " 'I will not spare you or feel sorry for you. I will pay you back based on how you have lived. I will judge you for your evil practices. I hate them. You will know that I am the one who strikes you down. I am the Lord.
10 " 'The day for me to punish you is here! It has come! Death has arrived. The time is ripe for you to be judged. Your pride has grown so much that you will be destroyed.
11 Your mean and harmful acts have become like a rod. I will use it to punish you for your sins. None of you will be left. No wealth or anything of value will remain.
12 " 'The time has come! The day has arrived! I will soon pour out my burning anger on the whole crowd of you. Do not let the buyer be happy. Do not let the seller be sad.
13 The seller will not get back the land that was sold as long as both of them are alive. " 'Ezekiel, the vision I gave you about that whole crowd will come true. They have committed many sins. So none of them will remain alive.
14 They might blow trumpets. They might get everything ready. But no one will go into battle. I will soon pour out my burning anger on the whole crowd.
15 " 'There is trouble everywhere. War is outside the city. Plague and hunger are inside it. Those who are out in the country will die in battle. Those in the city will be destroyed by hunger and plague.
16 All those who escape and are left alive will run to the mountains. They have committed many sins. So they will cry like sad doves in the valleys.
17 " 'Their hands will be powerless to help them. Their knees will become as weak as water.
18 They will put on black clothes. They will put on terror as if it were their clothes. Their faces will be covered with shame. Their heads will be shaved.
19 " 'They will throw their silver into the streets. Their gold will be like an "unclean" thing. Their silver and gold will not be able to save them on the day I pour out my anger on them. They will not be able to satisfy their hunger. Their stomachs will not be full. Their silver and gold have tripped them up. They have made them fall into sin.
20 My people were so proud of their beautiful jewelry. They used it to make statues of their evil gods. I hate those gods. So I will turn their statues into an "unclean" thing for them.
21 " 'I will hand everything over to strangers. I will turn it over to sinful people in other countries. They will pollute it.
22 I will turn my face away from my people. Their enemies will pollute my beautiful temple. Robbers will enter it and pollute it.
23 " 'Ezekiel, get ready to put my people in chains. The land is full of murderers. They are harming one another all over Jerusalem.
24 I will bring the most evil nations against them. They will take over the houses in the city. I will put an end to the pride of those who are mighty. Their holy places will be polluted.
25 " 'When terror comes, they will look for peace. But there will not be any.
26 Trouble after trouble will come. One report will follow another. But they will not be true. The people will try to get visions from the prophets. But there will not be any. The teaching of the law by the priests will be gone. So will advice from the elders.
27 " 'The king will be filled with sadness. The princes will lose all hope. The hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will punish them based on how they have lived. I will judge them by their own standards. Then they will know that I am the Lord.' "

Ezekiel 7 Commentaries

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