Ezekiel 7

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

A message from the Lord came to me, saying,

2 And thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God to the land of Israel: The end is come, the end is come upon the four quarters 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 Now is an end come upon thee, and I will send my wrath upon thee, and I will judge thee according to thy ways: and I will set all thy abominations against thee.

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 And my eye shall not spare thee, and I will shew thee no pity: but I will lay thy ways upon thee, and thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and you shall 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 Thus saith the Lord God: One affliction, behold an affliction is come.

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

6 An end is come, the end is come, it hath awaked against thee: behold it is come.

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

7 Destruction is come upon thee that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of slaughter is near, and not of the joy of mountains.

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 Now very shortly I will pour out my wrath upon thee, and I will accomplish my anger in thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and I will lay upon thee all thy crimes.

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 And my eye shall not spare, neither will I shew mercy: but I will lay thy ways upon thee, and thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and you shall know that I am the Lord that strike.

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, behold it is come: destruction is gone forth, the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.

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 Iniquity is risen up into a rod of impiety: nothing of them shall remain, nor of their people, nor of the noise of them: and there shall be no rest among them.

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 is come, the day is at hand: let not the buyer rejoice: nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the people thereof.

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 For the seller shall not return to that which he hath sold, although their life be yet among the living. For the vision which regardeth all the multitude thereof, shall not go back: neither shall man be strengthened in the iniquity of 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 Blow the trumpet, let all be made ready, yet there is none to go to the battle: for my wrath shall be upon all the people thereof.

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 without: and the pestilence, and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die by the sword: and they that are in the city, shall be devoured by the pestilence, and the famine.

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 And such of them as shall flee shall escape: and they shall be in the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them trembling, every one for his 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 All hands shall be made feeble, and all knees shall run with water.

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

18 And they shall gird themselves with haircloth, and fear shall cover them, and shame shall be upon every face, and baldness upon all their heads.

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 Their silver shall be cast forth, and their gold shall become a dunghill. Their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They shall not satisfy their soul, and their bellies shall not be filled: because it hath been the stumblingblock of 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 And they have turned the ornament of their jewels into pride, and have made of it the images of their abominations, and idols: therefore I have made it an uncleanness to 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 give it into the hands of strangers for spoil, and to the wicked of the earth for a prey, and they shall defile it.

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 And I will turn away my face from them, and they shall violate my secret place: and robbers shall enter into it, and defile it.

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

23 Make a shutting up: for the land is full of the judgment of blood, and the city is full of iniquity.

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 And I will bring the worse of the nations, and they shall possess their houses: and I will make the pride of the mighty to cease, and they shall possess their sanctuary.

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 When distress cometh upon them, they will seek for peace and there shall be none.

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

26 Trouble shall come upon trouble, and rumour upon rumour, and they shall seek a vision of the prophet, and the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.

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 shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with sorrow, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled. I will do to them according to their way, and will judge them according to their judgments: and they shall 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.”