Ezekiel 7

Punishment for Wickedness Foretold

1Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2“And you, son of man, thus says the Lord 1God to the land of Israel, ‘An 2end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land. 3Now the end is upon you, and I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring all your abominations upon you. 4For My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will 3bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be among you; then you will 4know that I am the Lord!’

5“Thus says the Lord 5God, ‘A 6disaster, unique disaster, behold it is coming! 6An end is coming; the end has come! It has 7awakened against you; behold, it has come! 7Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The 8time has come, the 9day is near--tumult rather than joyful shouting on the mountains. 8Now I will shortly 10pour out My wrath on you and spend My anger against you; 11judge you according to your ways and bring on you all your abominations. 9My eye will show no pity nor will I spare. I will 12repay you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the Lord, do the smiting.

10‘Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Your doom has gone forth; the 13rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed. 11Violence 14has grown into a rod of 15wickedness. None of them shall remain, none of their people, none of their 16wealth, nor anything eminent among them. 12The 17time has come, the day has arrived. Let not the 18buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn; for 19wrath is against all their multitude. 13Indeed, the seller will not 2021regain 22what he sold as long as 23they both live; for the vision regarding all their multitude will not 24be averted, nor will any of them maintain his life by his iniquity.

14‘They have 25blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all 26their multitude. 15The 27sword is outside and the plague and the famine are within. He who is in the field will die by the sword; famine and the plague will also consume those in the city. 16Even when their survivors 28escape, they will be on the mountains like 29doves of the valleys, all of them 3031mourning, each over his own iniquity. 17All 32hands will hang limp and all knees will 33become like water. 18They will 34gird themselves with sackcloth and 35shuddering will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces and 36baldness on all their heads. 19They will 37fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their 38silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their 39appetite nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling.

The Temple Profaned

20They transformed the beauty of His ornaments into pride, and 40they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them. 21I will give it into the hands of the 41foreigners as plunder and to the wicked of the earth as spoil, and they will profane it. 22I will also turn My 42face from them, and they will profane My secret place; then robbers will enter and profane it.

23‘43Make the chain, for the land is full of 4445bloody crimes and the city is 46full of violence. 24Therefore, I will bring the worst of the 47nations, and they will possess their houses. I will also make the 48pride of the strong ones cease, and their 49holy places will be profaned. 25When anguish comes, they will seek 50peace, but there will be none. 2651Disaster will come upon disaster and 52rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a 53vision from a prophet, but the 54law will be lost from the priest and 55counsel from the elders. 27The king will mourn, the prince will be 56clothed with horror, and the hands of the people of the land will 57tremble. According to their conduct I will deal with them, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am the Lord.’”