1 Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 You, son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh to the land of Israel, An end: the end is come on the four corners of the land. 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. 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 Yahweh. 5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: An evil, an only evil; behold, it comes. 6 An end has come, the end has come; it awakes against you; behold, it comes. 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. 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. 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, Yahweh, do strike. 10 Behold, the day, behold, it comes: your doom is gone forth; the rod has blossomed, pride has budded. 11 Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness; none of them (shall remain), nor of their multitude, nor of their wealth: neither shall there be eminency among them. 12 The time is come, the day draws near: don't let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is on all its multitude. 13 For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they be yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude of it, none shall return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. 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. 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. 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. 17 All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. 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. 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 Yahweh: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels; because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity. 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 therein: therefore have I made it to them as an unclean thing. 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. 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. 23 Make the chain; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city 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. 25 Destruction comes; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. 26 Mischief shall come on mischief, and rumor shall be on rumor; and they shall seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders. 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 Yahweh.
This chapter, which also forms a distinct prophecy, foretells the dreadful destruction of the land of Israel, or Judah, (for after the captivity of the ten tribes these terms are often used indiscriminately for the Jews in general), on account of the heinous sins of its inhabitants, Ezekiel 7:1-15; and the great distress of the small remnant that should escape, Ezekiel 7:16-19. The temple itself, which they had polluted with idolatry, is devoted to destruction, Ezekiel 7:20-22; and the prophet is directed to make a chain, as a type of that captivity, in which both king and people should be led in bonds to Babylon, Ezekiel 7:23-27. The whole chapter abounds in bold and beautiful figures, flowing in an easy and forcible language.
INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 7
This chapter contains a prophecy of the speedy destruction of the Jews, as being just at hand; of the particular judgments that should come upon them; of the horror that should seize them, and the distress that all ranks of men among them should be in, a few only escaping, who are described as in mournful circumstances. The destruction in general is denounced as being very near; the end being come, which is often repeated; and as it is represented as sudden, so without mercy; which is declared, Ezekiel 7:1; the particular judgments, sword, pestilence, and famine, are mentioned in Ezekiel 7:15, and the few that should escape are compared to mourning doves, Ezekiel 7:16; the trembling, horror, and shame that should be upon all, are intimated in Ezekiel 7:17; the unprofitableness of their gold and silver to deliver them, and the unsatisfying nature of these things, are expressed, Ezekiel 7:19; the profanation and destruction of their temple are prophesied of, Ezekiel 7:20; and for their murder, rapine, and oppression, it is threatened that their houses should be possessed by the worst of Heathens, and their holy places defiled; and one calamity should come upon another; when their application to prophets, priests, and ancient men for counsel, would be in, vain, Ezekiel 7:23; and king, prince, and people, should be in the most melancholy and distressed circumstances, Ezekiel 7:27.
(Ezekiel 7:1-15) The desolation of the land.
(Ezekiel 7:16-22) The distress of the few who should escape.
(Ezekiel 7:23-27) The captivity.
The Overthrow of Israel
The second "word of God," contained in this chapter, completes the announcement of judgment upon Jerusalem and Judah, by expanding the thought, that the end will come both quickly and inevitably upon the land and people. This word is divided into two unequal sections, by the repetition of the phrase, "Thus saith Adonai Jehovah" (Ezekiel 7:2 and Ezekiel 7:5). In the first of these sections the theme is given in short, expressive, and monotonous clauses; namely, the end is drawing nigh, for God will judge Israel without mercy according to its abominations. The second section (vv. 5-27) is arranged in four strophes, and contains, in a form resembling the lamentation in Ezekiel 19:1-14, a more minute description of the end predicted.
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