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14 They have blown the trumpet, and have made all ready; but no one goes to the battle; for my wrath is on all its multitude.

15 “‘The sword is outside, and the pestilence and the famine within. He who is in the field will die by the sword. He who is in the city will be devoured by famine and pestilence. 16 But those of those who escape, they will escape and will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, everyone in his iniquity. 17 All hands will be feeble, and all knees will be weak as water. 18 They will also clothe themselves with sackcloth, and horror will cover them. Shame will be on all faces, and baldness on all their heads. 19 They will cast their silver in the streets, and their gold will be as an unclean thing. Their silver and their gold won’t be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh’s wrath. They won’t satisfy their souls or fill their bellies; because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity. 20 As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things therein. Therefore I have made it to them as an unclean thing. 21 I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a plunder; and they will profane it. 22 I will also turn my face from them, and they will profane my secret place. Robbers will enter into it, and profane it.

23 “‘Make chains; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.

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14 “They have blown the trumpet and everyone is ready, but no one goes to battle, because my anger is against their whole crowd.[a] 15 The sword is outside; pestilence and famine are inside the house. Whoever is in the open field will die by the sword, and famine and pestilence will consume everyone in the city. 16 Their survivors will escape to the mountains and become like doves of the valleys[b] ; all of them will moan—each one for his iniquity. 17 All their hands will hang limp; their knees will be wet with urine.[c] 18 They will wear sackcloth, terror will cover them; shame will be on all their faces, and all their heads will be shaved bald.[d] 19 They will discard their silver in the streets, and their gold will be treated like filth.[e] Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord’s fury.[f] They will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs because their wealth[g] was the obstacle leading to their iniquity.[h] 20 They rendered the beauty of his ornaments into pride,[i] and with it they made their abominable images—their detestable idols. Therefore I will render it filthy to them. 21 I will give it to foreigners as loot, to the world’s wicked ones as plunder, and they will desecrate it. 22 I will turn my face away from them, and they will desecrate my treasured place.[j] Vandals will enter it and desecrate it.[k] 23 (Make the chain,[l] because the land is full of murder[m] and the city is full of violence.)

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 7:14 tn The Hebrew word refers to the din or noise made by a crowd, and by extension may refer to the crowd itself.
  2. Ezekiel 7:16 sn The simile compares doves that flee their valley home for the mountains, where they coo in mournful discomfort. For doves moaning or mourning see Isa 38:14; 59:11; Ezek 7:16 and Nah 2:7.
  3. Ezekiel 7:17 tn Heb “their knees will run with water.” The expression probably refers to urination caused by fright, which is how the LXX renders the phrase. More colloquial English would simply be “they will wet their pants,” but as D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:261, n. 98) notes, the men likely wore skirts which were short enough to expose urine on the knees.
  4. Ezekiel 7:18 tn Heb “baldness will be on their heads.”
  5. Ezekiel 7:19 tn The Hebrew term can refer to menstrual impurity. The term also occurs at the end of v. 20.
  6. Ezekiel 7:19 sn Cf. Zeph 1:18.
  7. Ezekiel 7:19 tn Heb “it.” Apparently the subject is the silver and gold mentioned earlier (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:102).
  8. Ezekiel 7:19 tn The “stumbling block of their iniquity” is a unique phrase of the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek 14:3, 4, 7; 18:30; 44:12).
  9. Ezekiel 7:20 tc The MT reads “he set up the beauty of his ornament as pride.” The verb may be repointed as plural without changing the consonantal text. The Syriac reads “their ornaments” (plural), implying עֶדְיָם (ʿedyam) rather than עֶדְיוֹ (ʿedyo) and meaning “they were proud of their beautiful ornaments.” This understands “ornaments” in the common sense of women’s jewelry, which then was used to make idols. The singular suffix “his ornaments” would refer to using items from the temple treasury to make idols. D. I. Block points out the foreshadowing of Ezek 16:17, which, with Rashi and the Targum, supports the understanding that this is a reference to temple items. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:265.
  10. Ezekiel 7:22 sn My treasured place probably refers to the temple (however, cf. NLT’s “my treasured land”).
  11. Ezekiel 7:22 sn Since the pronouns “it” are both feminine, they do not refer to the masculine “my treasured place”; instead they probably refer to Jerusalem or the land, both of which are feminine in Hebrew.
  12. Ezekiel 7:23 tc The Hebrew word “the chain” occurs only here in the OT. The reading of the LXX (“and they will make carnage”) seems to imply a Hebrew text of הַבַּתּוֹק (habbattoq, “disorder, slaughter”) instead of הָרַתּוֹק (haratoq, “the chain”). The LXX is also translating the verb as a third person plural future and taking this as the end of the preceding verse. As M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 1:154) notes, this may refer to a chain for a train of exiles, but “the context does not speak of exile but of the city’s fall. The versions guess desperately, and we can do little better.”
  13. Ezekiel 7:23 tn Heb “judgment for blood,” i.e., indictment or accountability for bloodshed. The word for “judgment” does not appear in the similar phrase in 9:9.

14 “‘They have blown the trumpet,(A)
    they have made all things ready,
but no one will go into battle,
    for my wrath(B) 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.(C)
16 The fugitives(D) who escape
    will flee to the mountains.
Like doves(E) of the valleys,
    they will all moan,
    each for their own sins.(F)
17 Every hand will go limp;(G)
    every leg will be wet with urine.(H)
18 They will put on sackcloth(I)
    and be clothed with terror.(J)
Every face will be covered with shame,
    and every head will be shaved.(K)

19 “‘They will throw their silver into the streets,(L)
    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.(M)
It will not satisfy(N) their hunger
    or fill their stomachs,
    for it has caused them to stumble(O) into sin.(P)
20 They took pride in their beautiful jewelry
    and used it to make(Q) their detestable idols.
They made it into vile images;(R)
    therefore I will make it a thing unclean for them.(S)
21 I will give their wealth as plunder(T) to foreigners
    and as loot to the wicked of the earth,
    who will defile it.(U)
22 I will turn my face(V) away from the people,
    and robbers will desecrate the place I treasure.
They will enter it
    and will defile it.(W)

23 “‘Prepare chains!
    For the land is full of bloodshed,(X)
    and the city is full of violence.(Y)

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