Ezekiel 7

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

A message from the Lord came to me, saying,

2 Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD to the land of Israel; An end, the end is 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 Now [is] the end [come] upon thee, and I will send my anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thy 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 And my eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye 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; An evil, an only evil, behold, 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 watcheth for 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 The morning is come upon thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of trouble [is] near, and not the sounding again of 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 fury upon thee, and accomplish my anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thy 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 And my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thy abominations [that] are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD that smiteth.

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; the morning 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 Violence hath risen into a rod of wickedness: none of them [shall remain], nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs: neither [shall there be] 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 is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath [is] upon all the multitude 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 is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision [is] concerning the whole multitude thereof, [which] shall not 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, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath [is] upon all the multitude 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 [is] without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that [is] in the field shall die with the sword; and he that [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 they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, 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 feeble, and all knees shall be weak [as] water.

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

18 They shall also gird [themselves] with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame [shall be] upon all faces, 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 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: 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 is 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] of their detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from 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 the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute 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 pollute my secret [place]: for the 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 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 Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease, and their holy places shall be 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 cometh; and they shall seek peace, and [there shall be] none.

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

26 Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor; then shall they seek a vision of the 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 deserts 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.”