Ezekiel

The Day Is Coming

This word of the Lord came to me:

“And you, son of man, listen to what the Lord God says to Israel:

Finished! The end is near for the four corners of the land. It is all over for you. I am unleashing my anger upon you.I will judge you based on your actions and repay you for all your dirty deeds.

I will not look at you with pity; I will be merciless. I will bring consequences fitting your conduct and your detestable practices, and you will know that it is the Lord striking you.

Thus says the Lord: Disaster! Disaster is coming!

The end is near! It is your turn, you who live in the country.

The time has come; the day is near! No joy, only panic on the mountains!

Now I am unleashing my fury against you; my anger will exhaust itself on you. I will judge you according to your ways and your detestable practices.

I will not look on you with pity; I will be without mercy. I will judge you according to your conduct and call you to account for your detestable practices. I will not look on you with pity and I will show you no mercy. I will give you what your conduct deserves. And you will know that I am the Lord when I strike you for your abominable practices.

This is the day; the end is near, and the die has been cast. Insolence has flourished, pride yields its fruits,

and violence prevails. No one will escape.

The time has arrived; the day is here! Let neither the buyer rejoice nor the seller regret, for punishment will befall all.

The seller will not recover what he has sold, even if he survives, for the sentence regarding the multitude will not be reversed.

They may sound the trumpet, make preparations, but no one will go to battle, for I am angry with all of them.

Outside, in the open, is the sword; plague and starvation are in the houses. Those in the country will die by the sword; those in the city will fall victim to famine and plague.

Those who escape will go to the mountains; they will be like doves, each moaning because of his sin.

Every hand will be limp, and every knee weak as water;

they will put on sackcloth and shudder. All will be covered with shame, and every head will be bald.

They will throw their silver in the streets, and their gold will be dropped like filth. Silver or gold will not save them on the day of the Lord’s anger. It will be useless to satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, for these were their stumbling blocks and the cause of their sin.

They became proud of their splendid temple, but they put loathsome images and idols into it; that is why I will make it a horror.

I will hand it over as plunder to foreigners and as spoil to the most wicked of the land, and they will defile it.

I will withdraw my protection from them, and people will profane my treasure. Robbers will enter and desecrate it,

and there will be massacres within it, for the land is full of violence.

I will bring the cruelest of nations to take control of their houses. I will shatter the pride of the violent, and their sanctuaries will be desecrated.

Anguish is coming; they will seek peace, but there will be none.

Disaster will follow disaster; rumor will follow rumor. They will seek a vision from a prophet in vain. The priest will have no answers; the elders will be unable to advise.

The king will mourn; the princes will be overwhelmed with grief, and the hands of the citizens will tremble. I will treat them as their actions deserve and judge them according to their deeds; and they will realize that I am the Lord.