Ezekiel 7:1-13

The Voice

After such visual and visceral displays as representing Jerusalem on a brick and prophesying against it; lying on his side for over a year; and taking his own cut hair, burning it, and scattering it with a sword; Ezekiel must have acquired quite a reputation. His very life becomes an object lesson and a teaching display for the Judean exiles.

God is concerned about the glory of His name, so He must punish Jerusalem and the Judean population for their adulterous rebellion. Ironically, it is in the very places where God desires to have sweet and unhindered fellowship with His people that all types of lewd, profane acts of worship transpire. If there is any confusion as to what the Eternal is planning to do, then one need look no further than Ezekiel’s daily behavior.

7 The word of the Eternal came to me.

²Eternal One: Son of man, this is what I, the Eternal Lord, have to say to the land of Israel:
    The end! The end has arrived
        for the four corners of the land and everyone in it.
³    The end is upon you,
        and I will release My wrath against you.
    I will judge you according to your ways,
        and I will repay you for all your shocking actions.
⁴    I will not look on you with pity or spare you—
        I will fully repay you for your shocking behavior and despicable deeds.
    Then you will know I am the Eternal One.

⁵    This is what I, the Eternal Lord, have to say:
        Wave after wave of evil is coming!
⁶    The end has arrived! The end has arrived!
        It has awakened against you! It has arrived!
⁷    Doomsday has come for all who live in this land.
        The time has arrived; the day is near;
    There is no joy upon the mountains—
        only shouts of alarm and horrifying terror.
⁸    It won’t be long now until I pour out My wrath on you,
        until I unleash My fierce anger against you;
    I will judge you according to your ways
        and repay you for all your shocking actions.
⁹    I will not look on you with pity or spare you.
        I will fully repay you for your shocking behavior and despicable deeds.
    Then you will know it is I, the Eternal, who have crushed you.

¹⁰    Look, the day is here! It has arrived!
        Your doom has erupted.
    The rod has budded; conceit has blossomed!
¹¹    The consequence—violence—has grown up into a rod to punish the wicked;
        no one will be left, not one of the many!
    No wealth, no valuables will be left from this doomsday.
¹²    The time has arrived; the day is now.
    Buyer, don’t celebrate; seller, don’t grieve,
        for My anger will come to burn all of you!
¹³    The seller won’t regain his treasures while they both live;
        for the vision has to do with everyone, and no one will escape My wrath!
    Because of each person’s iniquity,
        no one will be able to hold onto his life.