The Prophets · Old Testament
Ezekiel 7
Ezekiel 7: "An end, the end is come" upon the land of Israel
General context
The word of the Lord comes to the prophet with an oracle "unto the land of Israel": "An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land." The Lord will send his anger, judge according to their ways and recompense "all thine abominations"; his eye will not spare, and they will know that he is the Lord. "An evil, an only evil" has come; "the morning is come," "the time is come, the day of trouble is near." His fury will be poured out shortly and they will know "the Lord that smiteth." The rod has blossomed and "pride hath budded"; violence has risen into a rod of wickedness, and none will remain or be wailed for. Buyer and seller are told not to rejoice or mourn, since wrath is on the whole multitude and the seller will not return to what is sold. The trumpet is blown but none goes to battle. The sword is outside and pestilence and famine within. Those who escape will be "on the mountains like doves of the valleys," mourning; hands feeble, knees weak, sackcloth, horror and baldness. Silver and gold are cast in the streets because they cannot deliver. The ornament set in majesty was used for images, so the Lord gives it to strangers and robbers who will pollute his "secret place." "Make a chain," for the land is full of bloody crimes; the worst of the heathen will possess their houses. They will seek peace, a vision from the prophet, law from the priest and counsel from the ancients, and find none; king, prince and people will mourn, and "they shall know that I am the Lord."
Cited passages: Ezekiel 7:2, Ezekiel 7:3, Ezekiel 7:4, Ezekiel 7:5, Ezekiel 7:7, Ezekiel 7:9, Ezekiel 7:10, Ezekiel 7:11, Ezekiel 7:12, Ezekiel 7:14, Ezekiel 7:15, Ezekiel 7:16, Ezekiel 7:17, Ezekiel 7:19, Ezekiel 7:20, Ezekiel 7:22, Ezekiel 7:23, Ezekiel 7:24, Ezekiel 7:26, Ezekiel 7:27
Ezekiel 7 (KJV)
1Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land.
3Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations.
4And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
5Thus saith the Lord God; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come.
6An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come.
7The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains.
8Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations.
9And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the Lord that smiteth.
10Behold the day, behold, it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.
11Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs: neither shall there be wailing for them.
12The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.
13For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.
14They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.
15The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.
16But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.
17All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.
18They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.
19They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.
20As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty: but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from them.
21And 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 pollute it.
22My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place: for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it.
23Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.
24Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled.
25Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.
26Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.
27The 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 unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.
Historical context
The oracle is addressed to "the land of Israel" and its "four corners," broader than the city of chapter 5, though "the city" and "my secret place" appear near the end. The Lord speaks throughout; the prophet neither acts nor answers in this chapter. No date is given and no enemy is named; the attackers are "the strangers," "the wicked of the earth," "the robbers" and "the worst of the heathen." The chapter mentions "the king" and "the prince" as separate mourners without naming either. Three sources of guidance are listed as failing together, "a vision of the prophet," "the law" from "the priest," and "counsel from the ancients." Verse 20's "his ornament" and "he set it in majesty" shift between third and first person, and the text does not say plainly what the ornament is; verses 21 and 22 speak of it being given to strangers and of "my secret place" being polluted, which is as far as the text goes. The line "the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive" is stated as a consequence of the vision touching "the whole multitude," and the chapter does not explain the transaction further. Silver and gold are called "the stumblingblock of their iniquity."
Cited passages: Ezekiel 7:2, Ezekiel 7:21, Ezekiel 7:24, Ezekiel 7:27, Ezekiel 7:26, Ezekiel 7:20, Ezekiel 7:13, Ezekiel 7:19
Literary context
The chapter is built on repetition of "come": "the end is come," "is come" again and again, "the morning is come," "the time is come," "the day draweth near," "behold, it is come." Short clauses pile up in the first half and give the oracle the sound of an alarm. Two verses, 3 to 4 and 8 to 9, are near duplicates, each ending with the refusal to pity and the recognition formula, the second adding "that smiteth." The image of the rod that "hath blossomed" and pride that "hath budded" turns growth into threat, and "violence is risen up into a rod" makes the people's own violence the instrument. The middle section pairs opposites, buyer and seller, field and city, without and within, so that no position is safe. The list of failing bodies, hands, knees, faces, heads, is followed by the failing of money, "their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them." The final verses run through the whole society, prophet, priest, ancients, king, prince, people, and close on the recognition formula "they shall know that I am the Lord," which in one form or another appears three times in the chapter.
Cited passages: Ezekiel 7:6, Ezekiel 7:10, Ezekiel 7:12, Ezekiel 7:8, Ezekiel 7:9, Ezekiel 7:11, Ezekiel 7:15, Ezekiel 7:18, Ezekiel 7:27
Key moments
- An end, the end is come (Ezekiel 7:2). The Lord God announces the end upon the four corners of the land.
- The Lord that smiteth (Ezekiel 7:9). The refusal to pity is repeated with a new title for the Lord.
- Pride hath budded (Ezekiel 7:10). The rod blossoms and violence rises into a rod of wickedness.
- Buyer and seller (Ezekiel 7:12). Neither is to rejoice or mourn because wrath is on the whole multitude.
- Doves of the valleys (Ezekiel 7:16). Those who escape mourn on the mountains for their iniquity.
- Silver in the streets (Ezekiel 7:19). Silver and gold cannot deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath.
- No vision, law or counsel (Ezekiel 7:26). Prophet, priest and ancients fail those who seek them.
For reflection
The chapter says people will "seek a vision of the prophet" and find that law and counsel have perished. What does it mean to look for guidance only once "the end is come"?
