Ezekiel, 7

1. The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,

1. The word of the LORD came to me:

2. 'Son of man, say, "Lord Yahweh says this to the land of Israel: Finished! The end is coming for the four corners of the country.

2. "And you, O 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.

3. This is the end for you; I shall unleash my anger on you, and judge you as your conduct deserves and call you to account for all your loathsome practices.

3. Now the end is upon you, and I will let loose my anger upon you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will punish you for all your abominations.

4. I shall show you no pity, I shall not spare you; I shall repay you for your conduct and for the loathsome practices in which you persist. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.

4. And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity; but I will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

5. "The Lord Yahweh says this: Disaster, a unique disaster, is coming.

5. "Thus says the Lord GOD: Disaster after disaster! Behold, it comes.

6. The end is coming, the end is coming, it is on the move towards you, it is coming now.

6. An end has come, the end has come; it has awakened against you. Behold, it comes.

7. Now it is your turn, you who dwell in this country. Doom is coming, the day is near; no joy now, only tumult, on the mountains.

7. Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land; the time has come, the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting upon the mountains.

8. Now I shall soon vent my fury on you and sate my anger on you: I shall judge you as your conduct deserves and repay you for all your loathsome practices.

8. Now I will soon pour out my wrath upon you, and spend my anger against you, and judge you according to your ways; and I will punish you for all your abominations.

9. I shall show neither pity nor mercy, but shall repay you for your conduct and the loathsome practices in which you persist. Then you will know that I am Yahweh and that I strike.

9. And my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will punish you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the LORD, who smite.

10. "Now is the day, your turn has come, it has come, it appears, the sceptre has blossomed, pride is at its peak.

10. "Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! Your doom has come, injustice has blossomed, pride has budded.

11. Violence has risen to become the scourge of wickedness . . .

11. Violence has grown up into a rod of wickedness; none of them shall remain, nor their abundance, nor their wealth; neither shall there be preeminence among them.

12. Doom is coming, the day is near. Neither should buyer rejoice, nor seller regret, for the fury rests on everyone alike.

12. The time has come, the day draws near. Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is upon all their multitude.

13. The seller will not be able to go back on his bargain; each persists in his sins; they take no defensive measures.

13. For the seller shall not return to what he has sold, while they live. For wrath is upon all their multitude; it shall not turn back; and because of his iniquity, none can maintain his life.

14. The trumpet sounds, all is ready, but no one goes into battle, since my fury rests on all alike.

14. "They have blown the trumpet and made all ready; but none goes to battle, for my wrath is upon all their multitude.

15. "Outside, the sword; inside, plague and famine. Whoever is living in the countryside will die by the sword; whoever is living in the city will be devoured by famine and plague.

15. The sword is without, pestilence and famine are within; he that is in the field dies by the sword; and him that is in the city famine and pestilence devour.

16. And those who escape will escape to the mountains and there, like doves of the valleys, I shall slaughter them all, each one for his sin.

16. And if any survivors escape, they will be on the mountains, like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, every one over his iniquity.

17. Every hand will grow limp, every knee turn to water.

17. All hands are feeble, and all knees weak as water.

18. They will put on sackcloth, each one trembling. Every face will be ashamed and every head be shaved.

18. They gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror covers them; shame is upon all faces, and baldness on all their heads.

19. They will throw their silver away in the streets and their gold they will regard as a pollution; neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of Yahweh's fury. Never again will they have enough to eat, never again will they fill their bellies, since that was the occasion for their guilt.

19. They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing; their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD; they cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity.

20. They used to pride themselves on the beauty of their jewellery, out of which they made their loathsome images, their horrors; so now I have made it pollute them.

20. Their beautiful ornament they used for vainglory, and they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it; therefore I will make it an unclean thing to them.

21. I shall hand it over as plunder to foreigners, as loot to the most evil people on earth. They will profane it.

21. And I will give it into the hands of foreigners for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane it.

22. I shall turn my face away from them, while my treasure-house is profaned and robbers will force their way in and profane it.

22. I will turn my face from them, that they may profane my precious place; robbers shall enter and profane it,

23. "Forge yourself a chain; for the country is full of bloody executions and the city full of deeds of violence,

23. and make a desolation. "Because the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence,

24. so I shall bring the cruellest of the nations to seize their houses. I shall put an end to the pride of their e'lite, and their sanctuary will be profaned.

24. I will bring the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses; I will put an end to their proud might, and their holy places shall be profaned.

25. Terror is on the way: they will look for peace and there will be none.

25. When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there shall be none.

26. Disaster will follow on disaster, rumour on rumour; they will pester the prophet for a vision; the priest will be at a loss over the law and the elders on how to advise.

26. Disaster comes upon disaster, rumor follows rumor; they seek a vision from the prophet, but the law perishes from the priest, and counsel from the elders.

27. The king will go into mourning, the prince be plunged in grief, the hands of the country people tremble. I shall treat them as their conduct deserves, and judge them as their own verdicts merit. Then they will know that I am Yahweh!" '

27. The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people of the land are palsied by terror. According to their way I will do to them, and according to their own judgments I will judge them; and they shall know that I am the LORD."