Ezekiel7
New King James Version
1Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2“And you, son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: ‘An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.
3Now the end has come upon you, And I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways, And I will repay you for all your abominations.
4My eye will not spare you, Nor will I have pity; But I will repay your ways, And your abominations will be in your midst; Then you shall know that I am the Lord!’
5“Thus says the Lord God: ‘A disaster, a singular disaster; Behold, it has come!
6An end has come, The end has come; It has dawned for you; Behold, it has come!
7Doom has come to you, you who dwell in the land; The time has come, A day of trouble is near, And not of rejoicing in the mountains.
8Now upon you I will soon pour out My fury, And spend My anger upon you; I will judge you according to your ways, And I will repay you for all your abominations.
9‘My eye will not spare, Nor will I have pity; I will repay you according to your ways, And your abominations will be in your midst. Then you shall know that I am the Lord who strikes.
10‘Behold, the day! Behold, it has come! Doom has gone out; The rod has blossomed, Pride has budded.
11Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness; None of them shall remain, None of their multitude, None of them; Nor shall there be wailing for them.
12The time has come, The day draws near. ‘Let not the buyer rejoice, Nor the seller mourn, For wrath is on their whole multitude.
13For the seller shall not return to what has been sold, Though he may still be alive; For the vision concerns the whole multitude, And it shall not turn back; No one will strengthen himself Who lives in iniquity.
14‘They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready, But no one goes to battle; For My wrath is on all their multitude.
15The sword is outside, And the pestilence and famine within. Whoever is in the field Will die by the sword; And whoever is in the city, Famine and pestilence will devour him.
16‘Those who survive will escape and be on the mountains Like doves of the valleys, All of them mourning, Each for his iniquity.
17Every hand will be feeble, And every knee will be as weak as water.
18They will also be girded with sackcloth; Horror will cover them; Shame will be on every face, Baldness on all their heads.
19‘They will throw their silver into the streets, And their gold will be like refuse; Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them In the day of the wrath of the Lord; They will not satisfy their souls, Nor fill their stomachs, Because it became their stumbling block of iniquity.
20‘As for the beauty of his ornaments, He set it in majesty; But they made from it The images of their abominations— Their detestable things; Therefore I have made it Like refuse to them.
21I will give it as plunder Into the hands of strangers, And to the wicked of the earth as spoil; And they shall defile it.
22I will turn My face from them, And they will defile My secret place; For robbers shall enter it and defile it.
23‘Make a chain, For the land is filled with crimes of blood, And the city is full of violence.
24Therefore I will bring the worst of the Gentiles, And they will possess their houses; I will cause the pomp of the strong to cease, And their holy places shall be defiled.
25Destruction comes; They will seek peace, but there shall be none.
26Disaster will come upon disaster, And rumor will be upon rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet; But the law will perish from the priest, And counsel from the elders.
27‘The king will mourn, The prince will be clothed with desolation, And the hands of the common people will tremble. I will do to them according to their way, And according to what they deserve I will judge them; Then they shall know that I am the Lord!’ ”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ezekiel 7.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The desolation of the land. (1-15). The distress of the few who should escape. (16-22). The captivity. (23-27).
vv1-15
The abruptness of this prophecy, and the many repetitions, show that the prophet was deeply affected by the prospect of these calamities. Such will the destruction of sinners be; for none can avoid it. Oh that the wickedness of the wicked might end before it bring them to an end! Trouble is to the impenitent only an evil, it hardens their hearts, and stirs up their corruptions; but there are those to whom it is sanctified by the grace of God, and made a means of much good. The day of real trouble is near, not a mere echo or rumour of troubles. Whatever are the fruits of God's judgments, our sin is the root of them. These judgments shall be universal. And God will be glorified in all. Now is the day of the Lord's patience and mercy, but the time of the sinner's trouble is at hand.
vv16-22
Sooner or later, sin will cause sorrow; and those who will not repent of their sin, may justly be left to pine away in it. There are many whose wealth is their snare and ruin; and the gaining the world is the losing of their souls. Riches profit not in the day of wrath. The wealth of this world has not that in it which will answer the desires of the soul, or be any satisfaction to it in a day of distress. God's temple shall stand them in no stead. Those are unworthy to be honoured with the form of godliness, who will not be governed by its power.
vv23-27
Whoever break the bands of God's law, will find themselves bound and held by the chains of his judgments. Since they encouraged one another to sin, God would dishearten them. All must needs be in trouble, when God comes to judge them according to their deserts. May the Lord enable us to seek that good part which shall not be taken away.
Key Words
דָּבָר: a word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a cause
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
אַתָּה: thou and thee, or (plural) ye and you
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
אָדָם: ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)
כֹּה: properly, like this, i.e. by implication, (of manner) thus (or so); also (of place) here (or hither); or (of time) now
אֲדֹנָי: the Lord (used as a proper name of God only)
אֲדָמָה: soil (from its general redness)
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
קֵץ: an extremity; adverbially (with prepositional prefix) after
Cross References
Ezekiel 7Amos's 'the end is come upon my people' directly parallels Ezekiel's announcement of Israel's end.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The rod of God's anger refers to the foreign instrument of judgment (Assyria/Babylon).
Supported by JFB
Paul's warning that buyers and rejoicers must live detached echoes Ezekiel's pre-exilic economic disruption.
Supported by JFB
The Jubilee law allowed land return, which exile now prevents for both buyer and seller.
Supported by JFB
Zephaniah echoes the warning that silver and gold cannot deliver in the Lord's wrath.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Establishes that wealth provides no security or soul-satisfaction in the day of wrath.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallels the day of trouble, crying, and tumult in the valley of vision.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The great day of the Lord is near and hastens quickly, bringing trouble.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The Lord casts off His altar and abandons His sanctuary to polluting enemies.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Contrast between Aaron's life-giving rod that budded and the rod of pride/punishment.
Supported by JFB
The classic covenant curse: sword without and terror within, alongside famine and pestilence.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Lamentations mourning the loss of the law and visions from the prophets.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Repeats God's solemn declaration that His eye will not spare or have pity.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Connects violence and wicked works to the growing rod of judgment.
Supported by JFB
Descriptions of extreme mourning, baldness, and wearing of sackcloth during destruction.
Supported by Matthew Poole