Ezekiel 7

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

A message from the Lord came to me, saying,

2 "You, son of man, say, 'Thus says the LORD to the land of Israel: An end has come. The end has come on 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 the end on you, and I will send my anger on you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will bring on you 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 My eye shall not spare you, neither will I have pity; but I will bring your ways on you, and your abominations shall be in the midst of you: 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 says the LORD: 'A disaster, a unique disaster; look, it comes.

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

6 An end has come, the end has come; it awakes against you; look, it comes.

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

7 Your doom has come to you, inhabitant of the land: the time has come, the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting, on the 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 will I shortly pour out my wrath on you, and accomplish my anger against you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will bring on you 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 My eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will bring on you according to your ways; and your abominations shall be in the midst of you; and you shall know that I, the LORD, do 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 Look, the day, look, it comes: your doom is gone forth; the rod has blossomed, pride has 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 "Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of their wealth. There shall be nothing of value 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 has come, the day draws near: do not let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is on 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 buyer shall not return to the seller while they live. For the vision is touching the whole multitude of it, none shall return; neither shall any strengthen himself 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 They have blown the trumpet, and have made all ready; but none goes to the battle; for my wrath is on 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 the field shall die with the sword: and he who is in the city, famine and pestilence shall 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 But those of those who escape shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, every one in 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 feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.

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

18 They shall also clothe themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be 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 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 the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels; because 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 in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things. Therefore I will render it an unclean thing 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 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.

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 My face will I turn also from them, and they shall profane my secret place; and robbers shall enter into it, and profane 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 is full of bloody crimes, 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 Therefore 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 their holy places shall 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 Destruction comes; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.

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

26 Disaster shall come upon disaster, and rumor shall follow rumor; and they shall seek a vision from a prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and 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 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 to them after their way, and according to their own judgments will I judge them; 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.”