Ezekiel 7:2-12

7:2 “You, son of man – this is what the sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel: An end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land! ¹  7:3 The end is now upon you, and I will release my anger against you; I will judge ²  you according to your behavior, ³  I will hold you accountable for ⁴  all your abominable practices. 7:4 My eye will not pity you; I will not spare ⁵  you. ⁶  For I will hold you responsible for your behavior, ⁷  and you will suffer the consequences of your abominable practices. ⁸  Then you will know that I am the Lord!

7:5 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: A disaster ⁹  – a one-of-a-kind ¹⁰  disaster – is coming! 7:6 An end comes ¹¹  – the end comes! ¹²  It has awakened against you ¹³  – the end is upon you! Look, it is coming! ¹⁴  7:7 Doom is coming upon you who live in the land! The time is coming, the day ¹⁵  is near. There are sounds of tumult, not shouts of joy, on the mountains. ¹⁶  7:8 Soon now I will pour out my rage ¹⁷  on you; I will fully vent my anger against you. I will judge you according to your behavior. I will hold you accountable for all your abominable practices. 7:9 My eye will not pity you; I will not spare ¹⁸  you. For your behavior I will hold you accountable, ¹⁹  and you will suffer the consequences of your abominable practices. Then you will know that it is I, the Lord, who is striking you. ²⁰ 

7:10 “Look, the day! Look, it is coming! Doom has gone out! The staff has budded, pride has blossomed! 7:11 Violence ²¹  has grown into a staff that supports wickedness. Not one of them will be left ²²  – not from their crowd, not from their wealth, not from their prominence. ²³  7:12 The time has come; the day has struck! The customer should not rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for divine wrath ²⁴  comes against their whole crowd.

Ezekiel 12:22-28

12:22 “Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel, ‘The days pass slowly, and every vision fails’? 12:23 Therefore tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: I hereby end this proverb; they will not recite it in Israel any longer.’ But say to them, ‘The days are at hand when every vision will be fulfilled. ²⁵  12:24 For there will no longer be any false visions or flattering omens amidst the house of Israel. 12:25 For I, the Lord, will speak. Whatever word I speak will be accomplished. It will not be delayed any longer. Indeed in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and accomplish it, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

12:26 The word of the Lord came to me: 12:27 “Take note, son of man, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for distant days; he is prophesying about the far future.’ 12:28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: None of my words will be delayed any longer! The word I speak will come to pass, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

Ezekiel 12:1

Previewing the Exile

12:1 The word of the Lord came to me:

Ezekiel 4:7

4:7 You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and prophesy against it.

[7:2]  ¹ tn Or “earth.” Elsewhere the expression “four corners of the earth” figuratively refers to the whole earth (Isa 11:12).

[7:3]  ² tn Or “punish” (cf. BDB 1047 s.v. שָׁפַט 3.c).

[7:3]  ³ tn Heb “ways.”

[7:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will place on you.”

[7:4]  ⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.

[7:4]  ⁶ tn The pronoun “you” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[7:4]  ⁷ tn “I will set your behavior on your head.”

[7:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “and your abominable practices will be among you.”

[7:5]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew term often refers to moral evil (see Ezek 6:10; 14:22), but in many contexts it refers to calamity or disaster, sometimes as punishment for evil behavior.

[7:5]  ¹⁰ tc So most Hebrew mss; many Hebrew mss read “disaster after disaster” (cf. NAB, NCV, NRSV, NLT).

[7:6]  ¹¹ tn Or “has come.”

[7:6]  ¹² tn Or “has come.”

[7:6]  ¹³ tc With different vowels the verb rendered “it has awakened” would be the noun “the end,” as in “the end is upon you.” The verb would represent a phonetic wordplay. The noun by virtue of repetition would continue to reinforce the idea of the end. Whether verb or noun, this is the only instance to occur with this preposition.

[7:6]  ¹⁴ tc For this entire verse, the LXX has only “the end is come.”

[7:7]  ¹⁵ sn The day refers to the day of the Lord, a concept which, beginning in Amos 5:18-20, became a common theme in the OT prophetic books. It refers to a time when the Lord intervenes in human affairs as warrior and judge.

[7:7]  ¹⁶ tc The LXX reads “neither tumult nor birth pains.” The LXX varies at many points from the MT in this chapter. The context suggests that one or both of these would be present on a day of judgment, thus favoring the MT. Perhaps more significant is the absence of “the mountains” in the LXX. If the ר (resh) in הָרִים (harim, “the mountains” not “on the mountains”) were a ד (dalet), which is a common letter confusion, then it could be from the same root as the previous word, הֵד (hed), meaning “the day is near – with destruction, not joyful shouting.”

[7:8]  ¹⁷ tn The expression “to pour out rage” also occurs in Ezek 9:8; 14:19; 20:8, 13, 21; 22:31; 30:15; 36:18.

[7:9]  ¹⁸ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.

[7:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “According to your behavior I will place on you.”

[7:9]  ²⁰ tn The MT lacks “you.” It has been added for clarification.

[7:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “the violence.”

[7:11]  ²² tc The LXX reads “he will crush the wicked rod without confusion or haste.”

[7:11]  ²³ tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.

[7:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “wrath.” Context clarifies that God’s wrath is in view.

[12:23]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the days draw near and the word of every vision (draws near).”