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Impending Disaster

The word of the Lord came to me: You, O mortal, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel:

An end! The end has come
    upon the four corners of the land.(A)
Now the end is upon you;
    I will let loose my anger upon you;
I will judge you according to your ways;
    I will punish you for all your abominations.
My eye will not spare you; I will have no pity.
    I will punish you for your ways
    while your abominations are among you.

Then you shall know that I am the Lord.(B)

Thus says the Lord God:

Disaster after disaster! See, it comes.(C)
    An end has come; the end has come.
It has awakened against you; see, it comes!
Your doom[a] has come to you,
    O inhabitant of the land.
The time has come; the day is near—
    of tumult, not of reveling on the mountains.(D)
Soon now I will pour out my wrath upon you;
    I will spend my anger against you.
I will judge you according to your ways
    and punish you for all your abominations.(E)
My eye will not spare; I will have no pity.
    I will punish you according to your ways
    while your abominations are among you.

Then you shall know that it is I the Lord who strike.

10 See, the day! See, it comes!
    Your doom[b] has gone out.
The rod has blossomed; pride has budded.
11     Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness.
None of them shall remain,
    not their abundance, not their wealth;
    no preeminence among them.[c](F)
12 The time has come; the day draws near;
    let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn,
    for wrath is upon all their multitude.

13 For the sellers shall not return to what has been sold as long as they remain alive. For the vision concerns all their multitude; it shall not be revoked. Because of their iniquity, they cannot maintain their lives.[d]

14 They have blown the horn and made everything ready,
    but no one goes to battle,
    for my wrath is upon all their multitude.
15 The sword is outside; pestilence and famine are inside;
    those in the field die by the sword;
    those in the city—famine and pestilence devour them.(G)
16 If any survivors escape,
    they shall be found on the mountains
    like doves of the valleys,
all of them moaning over their iniquity.(H)
17 All hands shall grow feeble,
    all knees turn to water.(I)
18 They shall put on sackcloth;
    horror shall cover them.
Shame shall be on all faces,
    baldness on all their heads.(J)
19 They shall fling their silver into the streets;
    their gold shall be treated as unclean.

Their silver and gold cannot save them on the day of the wrath of the Lord. They shall not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity.(K) 20 From their[e] beautiful ornament, in which they took pride, they made their abominable images, their detestable things; therefore I will make of it an unclean thing to them.(L)

21 I will hand it over to strangers as plunder,
    to the wicked of the earth as spoil;
    they shall profane it.(M)
22 I will avert my face from them
    so that they may profane my treasured[f] place;
the violent shall enter it;
    they shall profane it.(N)
23 Make a chain![g]
For the land is full of bloody crimes;
    the city is full of violence.(O)
24 I will bring the worst of the nations
    to take possession of their houses.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the strong,
    and their holy places shall be profaned.(P)
25 When anguish comes, they will seek peace,
    but there shall be none.(Q)
26 Disaster comes upon disaster;
    rumor follows rumor;
they shall keep seeking a vision from the prophet;
    instruction shall perish from the priest
    and counsel from the elders.(R)
27 The king shall mourn,
    the prince shall be wrapped in despair,
    and the hands of the people of the land shall tremble.
According to their way I will deal with them;
    according to their own judgments I will judge them.

And they shall know that I am the Lord.(S)

Footnotes

  1. 7.7 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  2. 7.10 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  3. 7.11 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  4. 7.13 Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain
  5. 7.20 Syr Symmachus: Heb its
  6. 7.22 Or secret
  7. 7.23 Meaning of Heb uncertain

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