Ezekiel 7

1 And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, “And you, son of man, Thus said Lord YHWH to the ground of Israel:

A message from the Lord came to me, saying,

2 An end, the end has come on 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 Now [is] the end for you, And I have sent My anger on you, And judged you according to your ways, And set all your abominations against you.

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 has no pity on you, nor do I spare, For I set your ways against you, And your abominations are in your midst, And you have known that I [am] YHWH.

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 said Lord YHWH: Calamity, a single calamity, behold, it has come.

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

6 An end has come, the end has come, It has awoken for 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 The circlet has come to you, O inhabitant of the land! The time has come, a day of trouble [is] near, And not the shouting 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 shortly I pour out My fury on you, And have completed My anger against you, And judged you according to your ways, And set all your abominations against you.

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 does not pity, nor do I spare, I give to you according to your ways, And your abominations are in your midst, And you have known that [it is] I, YHWH, striking.

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 has come, The circlet has gone forth, The rod has blossomed, the pride has flourished.

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 The violence has risen to a rod of wickedness, There is none of them, nor of their multitude, Nor of their noise, nor is there wailing for 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 has come, the day has arrived, The buyer does not rejoice, And the seller does not become a mourner, For wrath [is] to all its 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 For the seller does not turn to the sold thing, And yet their life [is] among the living, For the vision [is] to all its multitude, It does not turn back, And none strengthens his life by his iniquity.

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 with a horn to prepare the whole, And none is going to battle, For My wrath [is] to all its 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, And the pestilence and the famine within, He who is in a field dies by sword, And he who is in a city—Famine and pestilence devour him.

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 their fugitives have escaped away, And they have been on the mountains As doves of the valleys, All of them making a noise—each 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 the hands are feeble, and all knees go [as] waters.

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

18 And they have girded on sackcloth, And trembling has covered them, And shame [is] on all faces, And baldness on 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 They cast their silver into out-places, And their gold becomes impurity. Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them, In a day of the wrath of YHWH, They do not satisfy their soul, And they do not fill their bowels, For it has been the stumbling-block 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 As for the beauty of his ornament, He set it for excellence, And the images of their abominations, Their detestable things—they made in it, Therefore I have given it to them for impurity,

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 have given it into the hand of the strangers for a prey, And to the wicked of the land for a spoil, And they have defiled 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 have turned My face from them, And they have defiled My hidden place, Indeed, destroyers have come into it, and defiled it.

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

23 Make the chain; for the land Has been full of bloody judgments, And the city has been 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 And I have brought in the wicked of the nations, And they have possessed their houses, And I have caused the excellence of the strong to cease, And those sanctifying them have been defiled.

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 Destruction has come, And they have sought peace, and there is none.

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

26 Disaster comes on disaster, and report is on report, And they have sought a vision from a prophet, And law perishes from [the] priest, And counsel from [the] elderly,

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 becomes a mourner, And a prince puts on desolation, And the hands of the people of the land are troubled, I deal with them from their own way, And I judge them with their own judgments, And they have known that I [am] YHWH!”

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.”