The end has come

The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel:

‘“The end! The end has come
    upon the four corners of the land!
The end is now upon you,
    and I will unleash my anger against you.
I will judge you according to your conduct
    and repay you for all your detestable practices.
I will not look on you with pity;
    I will not spare you.
I will surely repay you for your conduct
    and for the detestable practices among you.

‘“Then you will know that I am the Lord.”

‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘“Disaster! Unheard-of[a] disaster!
    See, it comes!
The end has come!
    The end has come!
It has roused itself against you.
    See, it comes!
Doom has come upon you,
    upon you who dwell in the land.
The time has come! The day is near!
    There is panic, not joy, on the mountains.
I am about to pour out my wrath on you
    and spend my anger against you.
I will judge you according to your conduct
    and repay you for all your detestable practices.
I will not look on you with pity;
    I will not spare you.
I will repay you for your conduct
    and for the detestable practices among you.

‘“Then you will know that it is I the Lord who strikes you.

10 ‘“See, the day!
    See, it comes!
Doom has burst forth,
    the rod has budded,
    arrogance has blossomed!
11 Violence has arisen,[b]
    a rod to punish the wicked.
None of the people will be left,
    none of that crowd –
none of their wealth,
    nothing of value.
12 The time has come!
    The day has arrived!
Let not the buyer rejoice
    nor the seller grieve,
    for my wrath is on the whole crowd.
13 The seller will not recover
    the property that was sold –
    as long as both buyer and seller live.
For the vision concerning the whole crowd
    will not be reversed.
Because of their sins, not one of them
    will preserve their life.

14 ‘“They have blown the trumpet,
    they have made all things ready,
but no one will go into battle,
    for my wrath is on the whole crowd.
15 Outside is the sword;
    inside are plague and famine.
Those in the country
    will die by the sword;
those in the city
    will be devoured by famine and plague.
16 The fugitives who escape
    will flee to the mountains.
Like doves of the valleys,
    they will all moan,
    each for their own sins.
17 Every hand will go limp;
    every leg will be wet with urine.
18 They will put on sackcloth
    and be clothed with terror.
Every face will be covered with shame,
    and every head will be shaved.

19 ‘“They will throw their silver into the streets,
    and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean.
Their silver and gold
    will not be able to deliver them
    in the day of the Lord’s wrath.
It will not satisfy their hunger
    or fill their stomachs,
    for it has caused them to stumble into sin.
20 They took pride in their beautiful jewellery
    and used it to make their detestable idols.
They made it into vile images;
    therefore I will make it a thing unclean for them.
21 I will give their wealth as plunder to foreigners
    and as loot to the wicked of the earth,
    who will defile it.
22 I will turn my face away from the people,
    and robbers will desecrate the place I treasure.
They will enter it
    and will defile it.

23 ‘“Prepare chains!
    For the land is full of bloodshed,
    and the city is full of violence.
24 I will bring the most wicked of nations
    to take possession of their houses.
I will put an end to the pride of the mighty,
    and their sanctuaries will be desecrated.
25 When terror comes,
    they will seek peace in vain.
26 Calamity upon calamity will come,
    and rumour upon rumour.
They will go searching for a vision from the prophet,
    priestly instruction in the law will cease,
    the counsel of the elders will come to an end.
27 The king will mourn,
    the prince will be clothed with despair,
    and the hands of the people of the land will tremble.
I will deal with them according to their conduct,
    and by their own standards I will judge them.

‘“Then they will know that I am the Lord.”’

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 7:5 Most Hebrew manuscripts; some Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac Disaster after
  2. Ezekiel 7:11 Or The violent one has become

Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto the land of Israel, An end: the end is come upon the four corners of the land. Now is the end upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways; and I will bring upon thee all thine abominations. And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity; but I will bring thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: An evil, an only evil; behold, it cometh. An end is come, the end is come; it awaketh against thee; behold, it cometh. [a]Thy doom is come unto thee, O inhabitant of the land: the time is come, the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting, [b]upon the mountains. Now will I shortly pour out my wrath upon thee, and accomplish mine anger against thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways; and I will bring upon thee all thine abominations. And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will bring upon thee according to thy ways; and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, do smite.

10 Behold, the day, behold, it cometh: thy doom is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded. 11 Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness; [c]none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of their wealth: neither shall there be [d]eminency among them. 12 The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. 13 For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, [e]although they be yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, [f]none shall return; neither shall any strengthen himself [g]in the iniquity of his life.

14 They have blown the trumpet, and have made all ready; but none goeth to the battle; for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. 15 The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him. 16 But those of them that escape shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, every one in his iniquity. 17 All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. 18 They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads. 19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be as an unclean thing; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of Jehovah: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels; because it hath been the stumblingblock of their iniquity. 20 As for the beauty of his ornament, [h]he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things [i]therein: therefore have I made it unto them as an unclean thing. 21 And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane it. 22 My face will I turn also from them, and they shall profane my [j]secret place; and robbers shall enter into it, and profane it.

23 Make the chain; for the land is full of [k]bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. 24 Wherefore I will bring the worst of the nations, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pride of the strong to cease; and [l]their holy places shall be profaned. 25 [m]Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. 26 Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor; and they shall seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders. 27 The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 7:7 Or, The turn. Or, The crowning time
  2. Ezekiel 7:7 Or, from
  3. Ezekiel 7:11 Or, not from them, nor from their multitude, nor from their wealth
  4. Ezekiel 7:11 Or, wailing for them
  5. Ezekiel 7:13 Hebrew though their life be yet among the living.
  6. Ezekiel 7:13 Or, it shall not turn back
  7. Ezekiel 7:13 Or, whose life is in his iniquity
  8. Ezekiel 7:20 Or, they turned it to pride; and they etc.
  9. Ezekiel 7:20 Or, thereof
  10. Ezekiel 7:22 Or, secret treasure
  11. Ezekiel 7:23 Hebrew judgment of blood.
  12. Ezekiel 7:24 Or, they that sanctify them
  13. Ezekiel 7:25 Or, Distress

The mountain of the Lord

This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

In the last days

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
    as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
    and all nations will stream to it.

Many peoples will come and say,

‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
    so that we may walk in his paths.’
The law will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He will judge between the nations
    and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into ploughshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war any more.

Come, descendants of Jacob,
    let us walk in the light of the Lord.

The day of the Lord

You, Lord, have abandoned your people,
    the descendants of Jacob.
They are full of superstitions from the East;
    they practise divination like the Philistines
    and embrace pagan customs.
Their land is full of silver and gold;
    there is no end to their treasures.
Their land is full of horses;
    there is no end to the chariots.
Their land is full of idols;
    they bow down to the work of their hands,
    to what their fingers have made.
So people will be brought low
    and everyone humbled –
    do not forgive them.[a]

10 Go into the rocks, hide in the ground
    from the fearful presence of the Lord
    and the splendour of his majesty!
11 The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled
    and human pride brought low;
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

12 The Lord Almighty has a day in store
    for all the proud and lofty,
for all that is exalted
    (and they will be humbled),
13 for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty,
    and all the oaks of Bashan,
14 for all the towering mountains
    and all the high hills,
15 for every lofty tower
    and every fortified wall,
16 for every trading ship[b]
    and every stately vessel.
17 The arrogance of man will be brought low
    and human pride humbled;
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day,
18     and the idols will totally disappear.

19 People will flee to caves in the rocks
    and to holes in the ground
from the fearful presence of the Lord
    and the splendour of his majesty,
    when he rises to shake the earth.
20 In that day people will throw away
    to the moles and bats
their idols of silver and idols of gold,
    which they made to worship.
21 They will flee to caverns in the rocks
    and to the overhanging crags
from the fearful presence of the Lord
    and the splendour of his majesty,
    when he rises to shake the earth.

22 Stop trusting in mere humans,
    who have but a breath in their nostrils.
    Why hold them in esteem?

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 2:9 Or not raise them up
  2. Isaiah 2:16 Hebrew every ship of Tarshish

The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established [a]on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth [b]the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. And he will judge [c]between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of Jehovah. For thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they are filled with customs from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners. And their land is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land also is full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots. Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made. And the mean man [d]is bowed down, and the great man [e]is brought low: therefore forgive them not. 10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, from before the terror of Jehovah, and from the glory of his majesty. 11 The lofty looks of man shall be brought low, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day.

12 For [f]there shall be a day of Jehovah of hosts upon all that is proud and haughty, and upon all that is lifted up; and it shall be brought low; 13 and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, 14 and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, 15 and upon every lofty tower, and upon every fortified wall, 16 and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant [g]imagery. 17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day. 18 And the idols shall utterly pass away. 19 And men shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the [h]earth, from before the terror of Jehovah, and from the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake mightily the earth. 20 In that day men shall cast away their idols of silver, and their idols of gold, which have been made for them to worship, to the moles and to the bats; 21 to go into the caverns of the rocks, and into the clefts of the ragged rocks, from before the terror of Jehovah, and from the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake mightily the earth. 22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 2:2 Or, at the head
  2. Isaiah 2:3 Or, instruction
  3. Isaiah 2:4 Or, among
  4. Isaiah 2:9 Or, boweth down
  5. Isaiah 2:9 Or, humbleth himself
  6. Isaiah 2:12 Or, Jehovah of hosts hath a day
  7. Isaiah 2:16 Or, watch-towers
  8. Isaiah 2:19 Hebrew dust.