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The Coming of the End

Then this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:

“The end is here!
    Wherever you look—
east, west, north, or south—
    your land is finished.
No hope remains,
    for I will unleash my anger against you.
I will call you to account
    for all your detestable sins.
I will turn my eyes away and show no pity.
    I will repay you for all your detestable sins.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
Disaster after disaster
    is coming your way!
The end has come.
    It has finally arrived.
    Your final doom is waiting!
O people of Israel, the day of your destruction is dawning.
    The time has come; the day of trouble is near.
Shouts of anguish will be heard on the mountains,
    not shouts of joy.
Soon I will pour out my fury on you
    and unleash my anger against you.
I will call you to account
    for all your detestable sins.
I will turn my eyes away and show no pity.
    I will repay you for all your detestable sins.
Then you will know that it is I, the Lord,
    who is striking the blow.

10 “The day of judgment is here;
    your destruction awaits!
The people’s wickedness and pride
    have blossomed to full flower.
11 Their violence has grown into a rod
    that will beat them for their wickedness.
None of these proud and wicked people will survive.
    All their wealth and prestige will be swept away.
12 Yes, the time has come;
    the day is here!
Buyers should not rejoice over bargains,
    nor sellers grieve over losses,
for all of them will fall
    under my terrible anger.
13 Even if the merchants survive,
    they will never return to their business.
For what God has said applies to everyone—
    it will not be changed!
Not one person whose life is twisted by sin
    will ever recover.

The Desolation of Israel

14 “The trumpet calls Israel’s army to mobilize,
    but no one listens,
    for my fury is against them all.
15 There is war outside the city
    and disease and famine within.
Those outside the city walls
    will be killed by enemy swords.
Those inside the city
    will die of famine and disease.
16 The survivors who escape to the mountains
    will moan like doves, weeping for their sins.
17 Their hands will hang limp,
    their knees will be weak as water.
18 They will dress themselves in burlap;
    horror and shame will cover them.
They will shave their heads
    in sorrow and remorse.

19 “They will throw their money in the streets,
    tossing it out like worthless trash.
Their silver and gold won’t save them
    on that day of the Lord’s anger.
It will neither satisfy nor feed them,
    for their greed can only trip them up.
20 They were proud of their beautiful jewelry
    and used it to make detestable idols and vile images.
Therefore, I will make all their wealth
    disgusting to them.
21 I will give it as plunder to foreigners,
    to the most wicked of nations,
    and they will defile it.
22 I will turn my eyes from them
    as these robbers invade and defile my treasured land.

23 “Prepare chains for my people,
    for the land is bloodied by terrible crimes.
    Jerusalem is filled with violence.
24 I will bring the most ruthless of nations
    to occupy their homes.
I will break down their proud fortresses
    and defile their sanctuaries.
25 Terror and trembling will overcome my people.
    They will look for peace but not find it.
26 Calamity will follow calamity;
    rumor will follow rumor.
They will look in vain
    for a vision from the prophets.
They will receive no teaching from the priests
    and no counsel from the leaders.
27 The king and the prince will stand helpless,
    weeping in despair,
and the people’s hands
    will tremble with fear.
I will bring on them
    the evil they have done to others,
and they will receive the punishment
    they so richly deserve.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

The end

The Lord’s word came to me: You, human one, this is what the Lord God proclaims to the land of Israel:

An end! The end has come to the four corners of the earth!
    Even now the end is upon you!
I’ll send my anger against you,
    I’ll judge you according to your ways,
    and I’ll turn all your detestable practices against you.
I won’t shed a tear for you or show any pity.
    Instead, I’ll turn your ways against you,
    and your detestable practices will stay with you.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.

The Lord God proclaims:

Disaster! A singular disaster! Look, it comes!
    The end has come! Oh, yes, it has come!
    It has come to you! Look, it’s here!
You who live on the earth,
    you are finally caught in your own trap!
    The time has come; the day draws near.
    On the hills panic, not glory.
        And now it’s near!
Against you I will pour out my wrath,
    and my anger will be satisfied.
I’ll judge you according to your ways,
    and turn all your detestable practices against you.
I won’t shed a tear or show any pity
    when I turn your ways against you,
    and your detestable practices stay with you.
Then you will know that I, the Lord, am the one who strikes you!

10 Look, the day! Look, it comes!
    Doom has arrived! The staff blossoms, and pride springs up!
11 Violence rises up as a wicked master.[a]
    It isn’t from others or their armies or their violence.
        It hasn’t loomed up because of them.
12 The time is coming! The day draws near!
    No buyer should rejoice, and no seller should mourn,
        because wrath overcomes the whole crowd.
13     The seller will never get back what was sold,
        even if both of them survive.
The vision concerns the whole crowd.
        It won’t be revoked.
    And the guilty ones—
        they won’t even be able to hang on to their lives.
14 They have blown the horn,
    and everything is ready, but no one goes to battle,
        because my wrath overcomes the whole crowd.
15 Outside, the sword! Inside, plague and famine!
    Whoever is out in the field will die by the sword.
        Whoever is in the city,
        plague and famine will consume them.
16 And those who flee?
    They will turn up on the hills like valley doves,
        all of them moaning, those guilty ones.
17 Every hand will hang limp;
    urine will run down every leg.
18 They will put on mourning clothes,
    and horror will cover them.
    On every face, shame;
    on all their heads, baldness.
19 They will hurl their silver into the street,
    and their gold will seem unclean.
    Their silver and their gold won’t deliver them
        on the day of the Lord’s anger.
They won’t satisfy their appetites or fill their bellies.
    Their guilt will bring them down.

20 From their beautiful ornament, in which they took pride,
    they have made horrible and detestable images!
Therefore, I’ve declared it an unclean thing for them.
21     I’ll hand it over to foreigners as loot taken in war,
    to the earth’s wicked ones as plunder—they will defile it!
22 When I hide my face from my people,
    foreigners will defile my treasured place.
    Violent intruders will invade it; they will defile it!

23 Make a chain!
    The earth is full of perverted justice,
        the city full of violence.
24 I’ll bring up the cruelest nations,
    and they will seize their houses.
    I’ll break their proud strength,
        and their sanctuaries will be defiled.

25 Disaster! It has come!
        They seek peace, but there is none.
26     One disaster comes after another,
        and rumor follows rumor.

They seek a vision from the prophet.
    Instruction disappears from the priest,
        and counsel from the elders.
27 The king will go into mourning,
    the prince will clothe himself in despair,
        and the hands of the land’s people will tremble.
When I do to them as they have done
    and judge them by their own justice,
        they will know that I am the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 7:11 Or wicked staff