Ezekiel 7

1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

A message from the Lord came to me, saying,

2 “O son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says to the land of Israel: ‘The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.

“Son of man, this is what the Lord God says to the people living in Israel: The end is here! The end has arrived throughout the country.

3 The end is now upon you, and I will unleash My anger against you. I will judge you according to your ways and repay you for all your abominations.

Now is the end for you! I'm going to direct my anger against you. I'm judging you for your actions and will pay you back for the offensive things you've done.

4 I will not look on you with pity, nor will I spare you, but I will punish you for your ways and for the abominations among you. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’

I won't have any pity for you, or show you any mercy. I'm going to punish you for what you've done, for your disgusting sins. Then you'll know that I am the Lord.

5 This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Disaster! An unprecedented disaster — behold, it is coming!

This is what the Lord God says: Watch out! Disaster after disaster is coming!

6 The end has come! The end has come! It has roused itself against you. Behold, it has come!

The end is here! The end has come, and it's coming for you! Watch out! This is the end!

7 Doom has come to you, O inhabitants of the land. The time has come; the day is near; there is panic on the mountains instead of shouts of joy.

You people living in the land, the consequences of your actions have come full circle. The time has come, the day is near— shouts of panic on the mountains and not shouts of joy.

8 Very soon I will pour out My wrath upon you and vent My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and repay you for all your abominations.

Very shortly I'm going to show you how angry I am with you. I will judge you by what you have done, and punish you for all your disgusting sins.

9 I will not look on you with pity, nor will I spare you, but I will punish you for your ways and for the abominations among you. Then you will know that it is I, the LORD, who strikes the blow.

I won't have any pity for you or show you any mercy. I'm going to punish you for what you've done, for your disgusting sins. Then you will know that it is I, the Lord, who is attacking you.

10 Behold, the day is here! It has come! Doom has gone out, the rod has budded, arrogance has bloomed.

Can't you see? The day is here! It has arrived! The consequences of your actions have come full circle—the walking stick has blossomed, pride has come into full bloom.

11 Their violence has grown into a rod to punish their wickedness. None of them will remain: none of their multitude, none of their wealth, and nothing of value.

Their way of violence has turned into a rod to punish them for their wickedness. None of them will survive—none of that whole crowd, and none of their wealth or honor.

12 The time has come; the day has arrived. Let the buyer not rejoice and the seller not mourn, for wrath is upon the whole multitude.

The time has come; the day is here! Buyers, don't celebrate thinking you'll get a good deal; sellers, don't cry thinking you're going to make a loss—because punishment is coming to everyone.

13 The seller will surely not recover what he sold while both remain alive. For the vision concerning the whole multitude will not be revoked, and because of their iniquity, not one of them will preserve his life.

Sellers won't ever get back the purchase price while they're still alive. I'm not going to change the plan I have revealed that applies to everyone. People who go on sinning won't survive.

14 They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one goes to war, for My wrath is upon the whole multitude.

Even though the trumpet call to arms has sounded, even though all the preparations have been made, no one is ready to fight, because I am angry with everyone.

15 The sword is outside; plague and famine are within. Those in the country will die by the sword, and those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague.

Outside the city are armed attacks; inside are disease and starvation. Those in the countryside will be killed by the sword, and those in the city will be destroyed by starvation and disease.

16 The survivors will escape and live in the mountains, moaning like doves of the valley, each for his own iniquity.

Those who do survive will escape and go to live in the mountains. They will sigh like the doves of the valley, each person thinking about their own sins.

17 Every hand will go limp, and every knee will turn to water.

Every hand will go limp, and every knee will go weak.

18 They will put on sackcloth, and terror will overwhelm them. Shame will cover all their faces, and all their heads will be shaved.

They will put on clothes made of sackcloth, and they will be totally terrified. They will all be ashamed and shave their heads in mourning.

19 They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will seem unclean. Their silver and gold cannot save them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their appetites or fill their stomachs with wealth, for it became the stumbling block that brought their iniquity.

They will throw away their silver in the streets and treat their gold as if it's something unclean. Their silver and gold won't be able to save them when the day of the Lord's anger comes. Their money won't satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs. In fact this was the problem that caused their sin in the first place.

20 His beautiful ornaments they transformed into pride and used them to fashion their vile images and detestable idols. Therefore I will make these into something unclean for them.

They were so proud of their beautiful jewelry that they used it to make their disgusting images and decorate their offensive idols. So I'm going to turn these idols into unclean things for them.

21 And I will hand these things over as plunder to foreigners and loot to the wicked of the earth, who will defile them.

I'm going to hand these things over as plunder to foreigners and as loot to the wicked people of the earth, who will make them unclean.

22 I will turn My face away from them, and they will defile My treasured place. Violent men will enter it, and they will defile it.

I will look away as they make my precious place unclean. Men of violence will enter and make it unclean.

23 Forge the chain, for the land is full of crimes of bloodshed, and the city is full of violence.

Get the chains ready, because the country is full of blood being spilled by violent crimes, and the city itself is full of violence.

24 So I will bring the most wicked of nations to take possession of their houses. I will end the pride of the mighty, and their holy places will be profaned.

So I'm going to bring the most evil of all the nations to take over their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the powerful, and their holy places will be made unclean.

25 Anguish is coming! They will seek peace, but find none.

Absolutely terrified, the people will look for peace, but won't find it.

26 Disaster upon disaster will come, and rumor after rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but instruction from the priests will perish, as will counsel from the elders.

Disaster after disaster will come down on them, and rumor after rumor. They will ask for a vision from a prophet, but there won't be any, and there won't be any instructions from the priests or advice from the elders either.

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 I will judge them by their own standards. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”

The king will mourn, the prince will be devastated, and no one in the country will know what to do. I will do to them as they have done to others; I will judge them as they have judged others. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”