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The End Arrives

The Lord’s message came to me: “You, son of man—this is what the Sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel: An end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land![a] The end is now upon you, and I will release my anger against you. I will judge[b] you according to your behavior;[c] I will hold you accountable for[d] all your abominable practices. My eye will not pity you; I will not spare[e] you.[f] For I will hold you responsible for your behavior,[g] and you will suffer the consequences of your abominable practices.[h] Then you will know that I am the Lord!

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: A disaster[i]—a one-of-a-kind[j] disaster—is coming! An end comes[k]—the end comes![l] It has awakened against you![m] Look, it is coming![n] Doom is coming upon you who live in the land! The time is coming, the day[o] is near. There are sounds of tumult, not shouts of joy, on the mountains.[p] Soon now I will pour out my rage[q] on you; I will fully vent my anger against you. I will judge you according to your behavior. I will hold you accountable for all your abominable practices. My eye will not pity you; I will not spare[r] you. For your behavior I will hold you accountable,[s] and you will suffer the consequences of your abominable practices. Then you will know that it is I, the Lord, who is striking you.[t]

10 “Look, the day! Look, it is coming! Doom has gone out! The staff has budded, pride has blossomed! 11 Violence[u] has grown into a staff that supports wickedness. Not one of them will be left[v]—not from their crowd, not from their wealth, not from their prominence.[w] 12 The time has come; the day has struck! The customer should not rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for divine wrath[x] comes against their whole crowd. 13 The customer will no longer pay the seller[y] while both parties are alive, for the vision against their whole crowd[z] will not be revoked. Each person, for his iniquity,[aa] will fail to preserve his life.

14 “They have blown the trumpet and everyone is ready, but no one goes to battle, because my anger is against their whole crowd.[ab] 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[ac] ; all of them will moan—each one for his iniquity. 17 All their hands will hang limp; their knees will be wet with urine.[ad] 18 They will wear sackcloth, terror will cover them; shame will be on all their faces, and all their heads will be shaved bald.[ae] 19 They will discard their silver in the streets, and their gold will be treated like filth.[af] Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord’s fury.[ag] They will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs because their wealth[ah] was the obstacle leading to their iniquity.[ai] 20 They rendered the beauty of his ornaments into pride,[aj] 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.[ak] Vandals will enter it and desecrate it.[al] 23 (Make the chain,[am] because the land is full of murder[an] and the city is full of violence.) 24 I will bring the most wicked of the nations, and they will take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the arrogance of the strong, and their sanctuaries[ao] will be desecrated. 25 Terror[ap] is coming! They will seek peace, but find none. 26 Disaster after disaster will come, and one rumor after another. They will seek a vision from a prophet; priestly instruction will disappear, along with counsel from the elders. 27 The king will mourn and the prince will be clothed with shuddering; the hands of the people of the land will tremble. Based on their behavior I will deal with them, and by their standard of justice[aq] I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the Lord!”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 7:2 tn Or “earth.” Elsewhere the expression “four corners of the earth” figuratively refers to the whole earth (Isa 11:12).
  2. Ezekiel 7:3 tn Or “punish” (cf. BDB 1047 s.v. שָׁפַט 3.c).
  3. Ezekiel 7:3 tn Heb “ways.”
  4. Ezekiel 7:3 tn Heb “I will place on you.”
  5. Ezekiel 7:4 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.
  6. Ezekiel 7:4 tn The pronoun “you” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied.
  7. Ezekiel 7:4 tn “I will set your behavior on your head.”
  8. Ezekiel 7:4 tn Heb “and your abominable practices will be among you.”
  9. Ezekiel 7:5 tn The Hebrew term often refers to moral evil (see Ezek 6:10; 14:22), but in many contexts it refers to calamity or disaster, sometimes as punishment for evil behavior.
  10. Ezekiel 7:5 tc So most Hebrew mss; many Hebrew mss read “disaster after disaster” (cf. NAB, NCV, NRSV, NLT).
  11. Ezekiel 7:6 tn Or “has come.”
  12. Ezekiel 7:6 tn Or “has come.”
  13. Ezekiel 7:6 tc With different vowels the verb rendered “it has awakened” would be the noun “the end,” as in “the end is upon you.” The verb would represent a phonetic wordplay. The noun by virtue of repetition would continue to reinforce the idea of the end. Whether verb or noun, this is the only instance to occur with this preposition.
  14. Ezekiel 7:6 tc For this entire verse, the LXX has only “the end is come.” tn In each of the three cases of the verb translated with forms of “to come,” the form may either be a participle (“comes/is coming”) or a perfect (“has come”). Either form would indicate that the end is soon to arrive. This last form appears also to be feminine, although “end” is masculine. This shift may be looking ahead to the next verse, whose first noun (“Doom”) is feminine.
  15. Ezekiel 7:7 sn The day refers to the day of the Lord, a concept which, beginning in Amos 5:18-20, became a common theme in the OT prophetic books. It refers to a time when the Lord intervenes in human affairs as warrior and judge.
  16. Ezekiel 7:7 tc The LXX reads “neither tumult nor birth pains.” The LXX varies at many points from the MT in this chapter. The context suggests that one or both of these would be present on a day of judgment, thus favoring the MT. Perhaps more significant is the absence of “the mountains” in the LXX. If the ר (resh) in הָרִים (harim, “the mountains” not “on the mountains”) were a ד (dalet), which is a common letter confusion, then it could be from the same root as the previous word, הֵד (hed), meaning “the day is near—with destruction, not joyful shouting.”
  17. Ezekiel 7:8 tn The expression “to pour out rage” also occurs in Ezek 9:8; 14:19; 20:8, 13, 21; 22:31; 30:15; 36:18.
  18. Ezekiel 7:9 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.
  19. Ezekiel 7:9 tn Heb “According to your behavior I will place on you.”
  20. Ezekiel 7:9 tn The MT lacks “you.” It has been added for clarification.
  21. Ezekiel 7:11 tn Heb “the violence.”
  22. Ezekiel 7:11 tc The LXX reads “he will crush the wicked rod without confusion or haste.”tn The verb has been supplied for the Hebrew text to clarify the sense.
  23. Ezekiel 7:11 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
  24. Ezekiel 7:12 tn Heb “wrath.” Context clarifies that God’s wrath is in view.
  25. Ezekiel 7:13 tc The translation follows the LXX for the first line of the verse, although the LXX has lost the second line due to homoioteleuton (similar endings of the clauses). The MT reads “The seller will not return to the sale.” This Hebrew reading has been construed as a reference to land redemption, the temporary sale of the use of property, with property rights returned to the seller in the year of Jubilee. But the context has no other indicator that land redemption is in view. If correct, the LXX evidence suggests that one of the cases of “the customer” has been replaced by “the seller” in the MT, perhaps due to hoimoioarcton (similar beginnings of the words).
  26. Ezekiel 7:13 tn The Hebrew word refers to the din or noise made by a crowd, and by extension may refer to the crowd itself.
  27. Ezekiel 7:13 tn Or “in their punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and in v. 16; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 18:17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”
  28. 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.
  29. 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.
  30. 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.
  31. Ezekiel 7:18 tn Heb “baldness will be on their heads.”
  32. Ezekiel 7:19 tn The Hebrew term can refer to menstrual impurity. The term also occurs at the end of v. 20.
  33. Ezekiel 7:19 sn Cf. Zeph 1:18.
  34. Ezekiel 7:19 tn Heb “it.” Apparently the subject is the silver and gold mentioned earlier (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:102).
  35. 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).
  36. 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.
  37. Ezekiel 7:22 sn My treasured place probably refers to the temple (however, cf. NLT’s “my treasured land”).
  38. 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.
  39. 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.”
  40. 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.
  41. Ezekiel 7:24 sn Or “their holy places” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV).
  42. Ezekiel 7:25 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT. It is interpreted based on a Syriac cognate meaning “to bristle or stiffen (in terror).”
  43. Ezekiel 7:27 tn Heb “and by their judgments.”

以色列的结局近了

耶和华对我说: “人子啊,主耶和华对以色列这样说,‘结局到了,以色列全境的结局到了! 以色列,你的结局到了,我的怒气必倾倒在你身上,我必按你的行为审判你,照你的一切恶行报应你。 我必不顾惜你,也不怜悯你,我必按你的恶行报应你。这样,你必知道我是耶和华。’”

主耶和华说:“看啊,灾祸来了,一场空前的灾祸来了! 结局到了,结局到了,你的结局到了! 以色列境内的居民啊,恶运降临了!时候已到,日子已近,山上一片恐慌,欢乐荡然无存。 我快要向你倾倒我的烈怒,发出我的怒气。我必按你的行为审判你,照你一切的恶行报应你。 我必不顾惜你,也不怜悯你,我必按你的恶行报应你。这样,你就知道惩罚你的是我耶和华。

10 “看啊,看啊,日子到了,大祸临头了!杖已经发芽,傲慢已经开花。 11 暴行成了惩罚邪恶的杖,以色列人必没有一个能够存留,他们的财富和尊荣必不复存在。 12 时候到了,日子近了,买主不要欢乐,卖主也不要忧愁,因为烈怒临到了所有的人。 13 即使卖主活着,也无法赎回他所卖的,因为关乎每一个人的异象必然应验,他们因为犯罪一个也不能保存性命。

14 “他们吹响了号角,做好了一切准备,却无人出战,因为我的烈怒临到了所有的人。 15 城外有战祸,城内有饥荒瘟疫;城外的必丧身刀下,城内的必死于饥荒瘟疫。 16 侥幸逃到山上的,都必像谷中哀鸣的鸽子,为自己的罪恶哭泣。 17 他们必吓得两手发软,双腿战抖。 18 他们必身披麻衣,战栗发抖。他们必剃光头发,满面羞愧。 19 他们必把银子抛在街上,视金子为污秽之物。在耶和华发烈怒的日子,金银不能拯救他们,也不能填饱他们的肚腹,满足他们的心,因为金银使他们跌入罪恶中。 20 他们以华美的饰物为骄傲,并用它制造丑恶可憎的神像,因此,我必使这一切变成他们眼中的污秽之物。 21 我必使这一切成为外族人手中的猎物,恶人手中的战利品,被任意糟蹋。 22 我必转脸不看他们,任由外族人亵渎我的殿,强盗必进入殿里大肆亵渎。

23 “你要预备锁链,因为这地方充满了血腥的罪恶,城里充斥着暴行。 24 我必让最凶恶的外族人侵占他们的房屋。我必挫掉强悍之人的傲气,使他们的圣所遭受亵渎。 25 恐怖的日子来临了,他们想寻求平安,却得不到平安。 26 灾祸接踵而至,噩耗不断传来。那时,他们必求问先知,但祭司的教导必消逝,长老们必无计可施。 27 君王必悲哀,首领必惊恐,百姓的手都必颤抖。我必按他们的恶行对付他们,使他们受到应得的审判。这样,他们就知道我是耶和华。”

Judgment on Israel Is Near

Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “And you, son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel:

(A)‘An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.
Now the end has come upon you,
And I will send My anger against you;
I will judge you (B)according to your ways,
And I will repay you for all your abominations.
(C)My eye will not spare you,
Nor will I have pity;
But I will repay your ways,
And your abominations will be in your midst;
(D)Then you shall know that I am the Lord!’

“Thus says the Lord God:

‘A disaster, a singular (E)disaster;
Behold, it has come!
An end has come,
The end has come;
It has dawned for you;
Behold, it has come!
(F)Doom has come to you, you who dwell in the land;
(G)The time has come,
A day of trouble is near,
And not of rejoicing in the mountains.
Now upon you I will soon (H)pour out My fury,
And spend My anger upon you;
I will judge you according to your ways,
And I will repay you for all your abominations.

‘My eye will not spare,
Nor will I have pity;
I will [a]repay you according to your ways,
And your abominations will be in your midst.
Then you shall know that I am the Lord who strikes.

10 ‘Behold, the day!
Behold, it has come!
(I)Doom has gone out;
The rod has blossomed,
Pride has budded.
11 (J)Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness;
None of them shall remain,
None of their multitude,
None of [b]them;
(K)Nor shall there be wailing for them.
12 The time has come,
The day draws near.

‘Let not the buyer (L)rejoice,
Nor the seller (M)mourn,
For wrath is on their whole multitude.
13 For the seller shall not return to what has been sold,
Though he may still be alive;
For the vision concerns the whole multitude,
And it shall not turn back;
No one will strengthen himself
Who lives in iniquity.

14 ‘They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready,
But no one goes to battle;
For My wrath is on all their multitude.
15 (N)The sword is outside,
And the pestilence and famine within.
Whoever is in the field
Will die by the sword;
And whoever is in the city,
Famine and pestilence will devour him.

16 ‘Those who (O)survive will escape and be on the mountains
Like doves of the valleys,
All of them mourning,
Each for his iniquity.
17 Every (P)hand will be feeble,
And every knee will be as weak as water.
18 They will also (Q)be girded with sackcloth;
Horror will cover them;
Shame will be on every face,
Baldness on all their heads.

19 ‘They will throw their silver into the streets,
And their gold will be like refuse;
Their (R)silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them
In the day of the wrath of the Lord;
They will not satisfy their souls,
Nor fill their stomachs,
Because it became their stumbling block of iniquity.

20 ‘As for the beauty of his ornaments,
He set it in majesty;
(S)But they made from it
The images of their abominations—
Their detestable things;
Therefore I have made it
Like refuse to them.
21 I will give it as (T)plunder
Into the hands of strangers,
And to the wicked of the earth as spoil;
And they shall defile it.
22 I will turn My face from them,
And they will defile My secret place;
For robbers shall enter it and defile it.

23 ‘Make a chain,
For (U)the land is filled with crimes of blood,
And the city is full of violence.
24 Therefore I will bring the (V)worst of the Gentiles,
And they will possess their houses;
I will cause the pomp of the strong to cease,
And their holy places shall be (W)defiled.
25 [c]Destruction comes;
They will seek peace, but there shall be none.
26 (X)Disaster will come upon disaster,
And rumor will be upon rumor.
(Y)Then they will seek a vision from a prophet;
But the law will perish from the priest,
And counsel from the elders.

27 ‘The king will mourn,
The prince will be clothed with desolation,
And the hands of the common people will tremble.
I will do to them according to their way,
And according to what they deserve I will judge them;
Then they shall know that I am the Lord!’ ”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 7:9 Lit. give
  2. Ezekiel 7:11 Or their wealth
  3. Ezekiel 7:25 Lit. Shuddering