Ezekiel 7

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

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

2 And you, son of man, say, This is what the Lord has said to the land of Israel: An end has come, the end has come on the four quarters of the land.

“And as for you, son of man: Thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: The end is coming, the end is coming, over the four regions of the earth.

3 Now the end has come on you, and I will send my wrath on you, judging you for your ways, I will send punishment on you for all your disgusting acts.

Now the end is over you, and I will send my fury upon you. And I will judge you according to your ways. And I will place all your abominations before you.

4 My eye will not have mercy on you, and I will have no pity: but I will send the punishment of your ways on you, and your disgusting works will be among you: and you will be certain that I am the Lord.

And my eye will not be lenient over you, and I will not take pity. Instead, I will set your ways upon you, and your abominations will be in your midst. And you shall know that I am the Lord.”

5 This is what the Lord has said: An evil, even one evil; see, it is coming.

Thus says the Lord God: “One affliction, behold, one affliction is approaching.

6 An end has come, the end has come; see, it is coming on you.

The end is coming, the end is coming. It has been vigilant against you. Behold, it is approaching.

7 The crowning time has come on you, O people of the land: the time has come, the day is near; the day will not be slow in coming, it will not keep back.

Destruction is coming over you, who live upon the earth. The time is approaching, the day of slaughter is near, and it is not of the glory of the mountains.

8 Now, in a little time, I will let loose my passion on you, and give full effect to my wrath against you, judging you for your ways, and sending punishment on you for all your disgusting works.

Now, very soon, I will pour out my wrath upon you, and I will fulfill my fury in you. And I will judge you according to your ways, and I will set upon you all your crimes.

9 My eye will not have mercy, and I will have no pity: I will send on you the punishment of your ways, and your disgusting works will be among you; and you will see that I am the Lord who gives punishment.

And my eye will not be lenient, nor will I take pity. Instead, I will place your ways upon you, and your abominations will be in your midst. And you shall know that I am the Lord, who is striking.

10 See, the day; see, it is coming: the crowning time has gone out; the twisted way is flowering, pride has put out buds.

Behold, the day! Behold, it approaches! Destruction has gone forth, the rod has blossomed, arrogance has germinated.

11 Violent behaviour has been lifted up into a rod of evil; it will not be slow in coming, it will not keep back.

Iniquity has risen up into a rod of impiety. There shall be nothing left of them, and of their people, and of the sound of them. And there shall be no rest for them.

12 The time has come, the day is near: let not him who gives a price for goods be glad, or him who gets the price have sorrow:

The time is approaching; the day is very near. Whoever buys should not rejoice. And whoever sells should not mourn. For wrath is over all of their people.

13 For the trader will not go back to the things for which he had his price, even while he is still living:

For whoever sells will not return to what he has sold, but as yet their life will be among the living. For the vision concerning their entire multitude will not turn back. And man will not be strengthened in the iniquity of his life.

14 And he who has given a price for goods will not get them, for my wrath is on all of them.

Sound the trumpet! Let everyone be prepared! And yet there is no one who may go to battle. For my wrath is over all their people.

15 Outside is the sword, and inside disease and need of food: he who is in the open country will be put to the sword; he who is in the town will come to his end through need of food and disease.

The sword is outside, and the pestilence and the famine are inside. Whoever is in the field will die by the sword. And whoever is in the city will be devoured by the pestilence and the famine.

16 And those of them who get away safely will go and be in the secret places like the doves of the valleys, all of them will come to death, every one in his sin.

And those who flee from among them will be saved. And they will be among the mountains, like doves in steep valleys, with every one of them trembling, each one because of his iniquity.

17 All hands will be feeble and all knees without strength, like water.

All hands will be weakened, and all knees will flow with water.

18 And they will put haircloth round them, and deep fear will be covering them; and shame will be on all faces, and the hair gone from all their heads.

And they will wrap themselves with haircloth, and dread will cover them. And shame will be upon every face, and baldness will be upon all of their heads.

19 They will put out their silver into the streets, and their gold will be as an unclean thing; their silver and their gold will not be able to keep them safe in the day of the wrath of the Lord; they will not get their desire or have food for their need: because it has been the cause of their falling into sin.

Their silver will be thrown away, and their gold will be like a dunghill. Their silver and their gold will have no power to free them in the day of the fury of the Lord. They will not satisfy their soul, and their bellies will not be filled, because of the scandal of their iniquity.

20 As for their beautiful ornament, they had put it on high, and had made the images of their disgusting and hated things in it: for this cause I have made it an unclean thing to them.

And they have set arrogance as the ornament of their necklaces, and they have made images of their abominations and graven idols. Because of this, I have let it be an uncleanness for them.

21 And I will give it into the hands of men from strange lands who will take it by force, and to the evil-doers of the earth to have for themselves; and they will make it unholy.

And I will give it into the hands of foreigners as a spoil, and to the impious of the earth as a prey, and they will defile it.

22 And my face will be turned away from them, and they will make my secret place unholy: violent men will go into it and make it unholy.

And I will avert my face from them, and they will violate my place of mystery. And untamed persons will enter into it, and they will defile it.

23 Make the chain: for the land is full of crimes of blood, and the town is full of violent acts.

Cause it to be closed. For the land has been filled with the judgment of blood, and the city is full of iniquity.

24 For this reason I will send the worst of the nations and they will take their houses for themselves: I will make the pride of their strength come to an end; and their holy places will be made unclean.

And I will lead in the most sinful among the Gentiles, and they will possess their houses. And I will cause the arrogance of the powerful to be quieted. And they will possess their sanctuaries.

25 Shaking fear is coming; and they will be looking for peace, and there will be no peace.

When anguish overwhelms them, they will seek peace, and there will be none.

26 Destruction will come on destruction, and one story after another; and the vision of the prophet will be shamed, and knowledge of the law will come to an end among the priests, and wisdom among the old.

Disturbance will follow after disturbance, and rumor after rumor. And they will seek the vision of the prophet, and the law will perish from the priest, and counsel will perish from the elders.

27 The king will give himself up to sorrow, and the ruler will be clothed with wonder, and the hands of the people of the land will be troubled: I will give them punishment for their ways, judging them as it is right for them to be judged; and they will be certain that I am the Lord.

The king will mourn, and the prince will be clothed with grief, and the hands of the people of the earth will be greatly disturbed. I will act toward them in accord with their own way, and I will judge them in accord with their own judgments. And they shall know that I am the Lord.”