Ezekiel 7-9
New American Standard Bible
Punishment for Wickedness Foretold
7 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “And you, son of man, this is what the Lord [a]God says to the land of Israel: ‘An (A)end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land. 3 Now the end is upon you, for I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and [b]bring all your abominations upon you. 4 And My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will [c](B)bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be among you; then you will (C)know that I am the Lord!’
5 “This is what the Lord [d]God says: ‘A (D)disaster, a unique disaster, behold, it is coming! 6 An end [e]is coming; the end has come! It has (E)awakened against you; behold, it has come! 7 Your [f]doom has come to you, you inhabitant of the land. The (F)time has come, the (G)day is near—panic rather than joyful shouting on the mountains. 8 Now I will shortly (H)pour out My wrath on you and expend My anger against you; I will (I)judge you according to your ways and [g]bring on you all your abominations. 9 My eye will have no pity nor will I spare you. I will [h]repay you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the Lord, am striking.
10 ‘Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Your [i]doom has gone forth; the (J)rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed. 11 Violence [j]has grown into a rod of (K)wickedness. None of them shall remain, none of their [k]people, none of their (L)wealth, nor anything eminent among them. 12 The (M)time has come, the day has arrived. Let neither the (N)buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn; for (O)wrath is against all their multitude. 13 Indeed, the seller will not [l](P)regain [m]what he sold as long as [n]they both live; for the vision regarding all their multitude will not [o]be averted, nor will any of them maintain his life by his wrongdoing.
14 ‘They have (Q)blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all [p]their multitude. 15 The (R)sword is outside the city and the plague and the famine are within. Anyone who is in the field will die by the sword, while famine and the plague will consume those in the city. 16 Even when their survivors (S)escape, they will be on the mountains like (T)doves of the valleys, all of them (U)moaning, each over his own wrongdoing. 17 All (V)hands will hang limp, and all [q]knees will drip with water. 18 They will (W)put on sackcloth and (X)shuddering will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces, and a [r](Y)bald patch on all their heads. 19 They will (Z)fling their silver into the streets, and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their (AA)silver and their gold will not be able to save them on the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their [s]appetite, nor can they fill their stomachs, because their wrongdoing has become a cause of stumbling.
The Temple Profaned
20 Moreover, they transformed the splendor of His jewels into pride, and (AB)they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them. 21 And I will hand it over to the (AC)foreigners as plunder, and to the wicked of the earth as spoils; and they will profane it. 22 I will also turn My (AD)face away from them, and they will profane My treasure; then robbers will enter and profane it.
23 ‘(AE)Make the [t]chain, for the land is full of [u](AF)bloody crimes, and the city is (AG)full of violence. 24 Therefore, I will bring the worst of the (AH)nations, and they will take possession of their houses. I will also put an end to the (AI)pride of the strong ones, and their (AJ)holy places will be profaned. 25 When anguish comes, they will seek (AK)peace, but there will be none. 26 (AL)Disaster will come upon disaster and (AM)rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a (AN)vision from a prophet, but the (AO)Law will be lost from the priest, and (AP)counsel from the elders. 27 The king will mourn, the prince will be (AQ)clothed in horror, and the hands of the people of the land will [v]tremble. I will deal with them because of their conduct, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am the Lord.’”
Vision of Abominations in Jerusalem
8 Now it came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord [w]God fell upon me there. 2 Then I looked, and behold, something like the appearance of [x]a man; from His waist and downward there was the (AR)appearance of fire, and from His waist and upward like the appearance of a glow, like (AS)gleaming [y]metal. 3 And He extended the form of a hand and took me by the hair of my head; and the (AT)Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the [z]north gate of the inner courtyard, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which (AU)provokes to jealousy, was located. 4 And behold, the (AV)glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain.
5 Then He said to me, “Son of man, (AW)raise your eyes now toward the north.” So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this (AX)idol of jealousy at the entrance. 6 And He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great (AY)abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations!”
7 Then He brought me to the entrance of the courtyard, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. 8 And He said to me, “Son of man, now (AZ)dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. 9 Then He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here.” 10 So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of crawling things and animals and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. 11 And standing in front of them were (BA)seventy (BB)elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his (BC)censer in his hand; and the fragrance of the cloud of incense was rising. 12 Then He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each man in the rooms of his carved images? For they say, ‘(BD)The Lord does not see us; the Lord has (BE)abandoned the land.’” 13 And He said to me, “Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing!”
14 Then He brought me to the entrance of the (BF)gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for [aa]Tammuz. 15 And He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these!”
16 Then He brought me into the inner courtyard of the Lord’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their (BG)backs to the temple of the Lord while their faces were toward the east; and (BH)they were [ab]prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. 17 And He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it a trivial thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have (BI)filled the land with violence and (BJ)provoked Me to anger repeatedly? Yet behold, they are [ac]putting the twig to their nose! 18 Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and (BK)though they cry out in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.”
The Vision of Slaughter
9 Then He cried out in my [ad]presence with a loud (BL)voice, saying, “Come forward, you [ae]executioners of the city, each with his weapon of destruction in his hand.” 2 And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his smashing weapon in his hand; and among them was (BM)one man clothed in linen with a scribe’s kit at his waist. And they came in and stood beside the bronze altar.
3 Then the (BN)glory of the God of Israel ascended from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the [af]temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose waist was the scribe’s kit. 4 And the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and make a (BO)mark on the foreheads of the people who (BP)groan and sigh over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.” 5 But to the others He said in my [ag]presence, “Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare. 6 [ah]Utterly (BQ)kill old men, young men, female virgins, little children, and women, but do not (BR)touch any person on whom is the mark; and you shall (BS)start from My sanctuary.” So they started with the [ai]elders who were before the [aj]temple. 7 He also said to them, “(BT)Defile the [ak]temple and fill the courtyards with the dead. Go out!” So they went out and struck and killed the people in the city. 8 And as they were striking the people and I alone was left, I (BU)fell on my face and cried out, [al]saying, “(BV)Oh, Lord [am]God! Are You going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel [an]by pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?”
9 Then He said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is (BW)filled with blood, and the city is (BX)full of perversion; for (BY)they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land, and the Lord does not see!’ 10 But as for Me, (BZ)My eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but (CA)I will bring their conduct upon their heads.”
11 Then behold, the man clothed in linen, at whose waist was the scribe’s kit, [ao]reported, saying, “I have done just as You have commanded me.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 7:2 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Ezekiel 7:3 Lit give
- Ezekiel 7:4 Lit give
- Ezekiel 7:5 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Ezekiel 7:6 Or has come
- Ezekiel 7:7 Meaning uncertain
- Ezekiel 7:8 Lit give
- Ezekiel 7:9 Lit give
- Ezekiel 7:10 Meaning uncertain
- Ezekiel 7:11 Lit has risen
- Ezekiel 7:11 Or procession
- Ezekiel 7:13 Lit return to
- Ezekiel 7:13 Lit the thing sold; i.e., his inherited land
- Ezekiel 7:13 Lit their life among the living ones
- Ezekiel 7:13 Lit return
- Ezekiel 7:14 Lit her
- Ezekiel 7:17 Heb idiom meaning to wet oneself
- Ezekiel 7:18 I.e., shaved as a sign of mourning
- Ezekiel 7:19 Lit soul
- Ezekiel 7:23 I.e., used for imprisonment
- Ezekiel 7:23 Lit judgment of blood
- Ezekiel 7:27 Lit be horrified
- Ezekiel 8:1 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Ezekiel 8:2 As in LXX; MT fire
- Ezekiel 8:2 Heb uncertain; Gr indicates a gold and silver alloy
- Ezekiel 8:3 Lit facing north
- Ezekiel 8:14 I.e., a Babylonian god
- Ezekiel 8:16 I.e., worshiping
- Ezekiel 8:17 Possibly an obscene gesture toward God
- Ezekiel 9:1 Lit ears
- Ezekiel 9:1 Lit punishers
- Ezekiel 9:3 Lit house
- Ezekiel 9:5 Lit ears
- Ezekiel 9:6 Lit To destruction
- Ezekiel 9:6 Or old men
- Ezekiel 9:6 Lit house
- Ezekiel 9:7 Lit house
- Ezekiel 9:8 Lit and said
- Ezekiel 9:8 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Ezekiel 9:8 Lit by Your pouring
- Ezekiel 9:11 Lit brought back word
Ezekiel 7-9
New Living Translation
The Coming of the End
7 Then this message came to me from the Lord: 2 “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.
3 No hope remains,
for I will unleash my anger against you.
I will call you to account
for all your detestable sins.
4 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.
5 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
Disaster after disaster
is coming your way!
6 The end has come.
It has finally arrived.
Your final doom is waiting!
7 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.
8 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.
9 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.”
Idolatry in the Temple
8 Then on September 17,[a] during the sixth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, while the leaders of Judah were in my home, the Sovereign Lord took hold of me. 2 I saw a figure that appeared to be a man.[b] From what appeared to be his waist down, he looked like a burning flame. From the waist up he looked like gleaming amber.[c] 3 He reached out what seemed to be a hand and took me by the hair. Then the Spirit lifted me up into the sky and transported me to Jerusalem in a vision from God. I was taken to the north gate of the inner courtyard of the Temple, where there is a large idol that has made the Lord very jealous. 4 Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel was there, just as I had seen it before in the valley.
5 Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” So I looked, and there to the north, beside the entrance to the gate near the altar, stood the idol that had made the Lord so jealous.
6 “Son of man,” he said, “do you see what they are doing? Do you see the detestable sins the people of Israel are committing to drive me from my Temple? But come, and you will see even more detestable sins than these!” 7 Then he brought me to the door of the Temple courtyard, where I could see a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, “Now, son of man, dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and found a hidden doorway.
9 “Go in,” he said, “and see the wicked and detestable sins they are committing in there!” 10 So I went in and saw the walls covered with engravings of all kinds of crawling animals and detestable creatures. I also saw the various idols[d] worshiped by the people of Israel. 11 Seventy leaders of Israel were standing there with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan in the center. Each of them held an incense burner, from which a cloud of incense rose above their heads.
12 Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the leaders of Israel are doing with their idols in dark rooms? They are saying, ‘The Lord doesn’t see us; he has deserted our land!’” 13 Then the Lord added, “Come, and I will show you even more detestable sins than these!”
14 He brought me to the north gate of the Lord’s Temple, and some women were sitting there, weeping for the god Tammuz. 15 “Have you seen this?” he asked. “But I will show you even more detestable sins than these!”
16 Then he brought me into the inner courtyard of the Lord’s Temple. At the entrance to the sanctuary, between the entry room and the bronze altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs to the sanctuary of the Lord. They were facing east, bowing low to the ground, worshiping the sun!
17 “Have you seen this, son of man?” he asked. “Is it nothing to the people of Judah that they commit these detestable sins, leading the whole nation into violence, thumbing their noses at me, and provoking my anger? 18 Therefore, I will respond in fury. I will neither pity nor spare them. And though they cry for mercy, I will not listen.”
The Slaughter of Idolaters
9 Then the Lord thundered, “Bring on the men appointed to punish the city! Tell them to bring their weapons with them!” 2 Six men soon appeared from the upper gate that faces north, each carrying a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man dressed in linen, who carried a writer’s case at his side. They all went into the Temple courtyard and stood beside the bronze altar.
3 Then the glory of the God of Israel rose up from between the cherubim, where it had rested, and moved to the entrance of the Temple. And the Lord called to the man dressed in linen who was carrying the writer’s case. 4 He said to him, “Walk through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of all who weep and sigh because of the detestable sins being committed in their city.”
5 Then I heard the Lord say to the other men, “Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity! 6 Kill them all—old and young, girls and women and little children. But do not touch anyone with the mark. Begin right here at the Temple.” So they began by killing the seventy leaders.
7 “Defile the Temple!” the Lord commanded. “Fill its courtyards with corpses. Go!” So they went and began killing throughout the city.
8 While they were out killing, I was all alone. I fell face down on the ground and cried out, “O Sovereign Lord! Will your fury against Jerusalem wipe out everyone left in Israel?”
9 Then he said to me, “The sins of the people of Israel and Judah are very, very great. The entire land is full of murder; the city is filled with injustice. They are saying, ‘The Lord doesn’t see it! The Lord has abandoned the land!’ 10 So I will not spare them or have any pity on them. I will fully repay them for all they have done.”
11 Then the man in linen clothing, who carried the writer’s case, reported back and said, “I have done as you commanded.”
Footnotes
- 8:1 Hebrew on the fifth [day] of the sixth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This event occurred on September 17, 592 B.c.; also see note on 1:1.
- 8:2a As in Greek version; Hebrew reads appeared to be fire.
- 8:2b Or like burnished metal.
- 8:10 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
