1 Moreover the word of the Lord came vnto me, saying, 2 Also thou sonne of man, thus saith the Lord God, An ende is come vnto the lande of Israel: the ende is come vpon the foure corners of the lande. 3 Nowe is the ende come vpon thee, and I wil sende my wrath vpon thee, and will iudge thee according to thy wayes, and will laye vpon thee all thine abominations. 4 Neither shall mine eye spare thee, neither will I haue pitie: but I will laye thy waies vpon thee: and thine abomination shall bee in the middes of thee, and yee shall knowe that I am the Lord. 5 Thus saith the Lord God, Beholde, one euil, euen one euill is come. 6 An ende is come, the end is come, it watched for thee: beholde, it is come. 7 The morning is come vnto thee, that dwellest in the lande: the time is come, the day of trouble is neere, and not the sounding againe of the mountaines. 8 Now I will shortly powre out my wrath vpon thee, and fulfil mine anger vpon thee: I will iudge thee according to thy wayes, and will lay vpon thee all thine abominations. 9 Neither shall mine eie spare thee, neither will I haue pitie, but I will laye vpon thee according to thy wayes, and thine abominations shalbe in the middes of thee, and ye shall knowe that I am the Lord that smiteth. 10 Beholde, the day, beholde, it is come: the morning is gone forth, the rod florisheth: pride hath budded. 11 Crueltie is risen vp into a rod of wickednes: none of them shall remaine, nor of their riches, nor of any of theirs, neither shall there bee lamentation for them. 12 The time is come, the day draweth neere: let not the byer reioyce, nor let him that selleth, mourne: for the wrath is vpon al the multitude thereof. 13 For hee that selleth, shall not returne to that which is solde, although they were yet aliue: for the vision was vnto al the multitude thereof, and they returned not, neither doeth any encourage himselfe in the punishment of his life. 14 They haue blowen the trumpet, and prepared all, but none goeth to the battel: for my wrath is vpon all the multitude thereof. 15 The sword is without, and the pestilence, and the famine within: he that is in the field, shall dye with the sword, and he that is in the citie, famine and pestilence shall deuoure him. 16 But they that flee away from them, shall escape, and shalbe in the mountaines, like the doues of the valleis: all they shall mourne, euery one for his iniquitie. 17 All handes shalbe weake, and all knees shall fall away as water. 18 They shall also girde them selues with sackecloth, and feare shall couer them, and shame shalbe vpon all faces, and baldnes vpon their heads. 19 They shall cast their siluer in the streetes, and their golde shalbe cast farre off: their siluer and their gold can not deliuer them in the day of the wrath of the Lord: they shall not satisfie their soules, neither fill their bowels: for this ruine is for their iniquitie. 20 He had also set the beautie of his ornament in maiestie: but they made images of their abominations, and of their idoles therein: therefore haue I set it farre from them. 21 And I will giue it into the handes of the strangers to be spoyled, and to the wicked of the earth to be robbed, and they shall pollute it. 22 My face will I turne also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place: for the destroyers shall enter into it, and defile it. 23 Make a chaine: for the lande is full of the iudgement of blood, and the citie is full of crueltie. 24 Wherefore I will bring the most wicked of the heathen, and they shall possesse their houses: I will also make the pompe of the mightie to cease, and their holie places shalbe defiled. 25 When destruction commeth, they shall seeke peace, and shall not haue it. 26 Calamitie shall come vpon calamitie, and rumour shall bee vpon rumour: then shall they seeke a vision of the Prophet: but the Lawe shall perish from the Priest, and counsel from the Ancient. 27 The King shall mourne, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the handes of the people in the land shall be troubled: I wil doe vnto them according to their waies, and according to their iudgements will I iudge them, and they shall knowe that I am the Lord.
The End Is Near for Israel
1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 “Mortal man,” he said, “this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to the land of Israel: This is the end for the whole land!
3 “Israel, the end has come. You will feel my anger, because I am judging you for what you have done. I will pay you back for all your disgusting conduct. 4 I will not spare you or show you any mercy. I am going to punish you for the disgusting things you have done, so that you will know that I am the Lord.”
5 This is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: “One disaster after another is coming on you. 6 It's all over. This is the end. You are finished. 7 The end is coming for you people who live in the land. The time is near when there will be no more celebrations at the mountain shrines, only confusion.
8 “Very soon now you will feel all the force of my anger. I am judging you for what you have done, and I will pay you back for all your disgusting conduct. 9 I will not spare you or show you any mercy. I am going to punish you for the disgusting things you have done, so that you will know that I am the Lord and that I am the one who punishes you.”
10 The day of disaster is coming. Violence is flourishing. Pride is at its height. 11 Violence produces more wickedness. Nothing of theirs will remain, nothing of their wealth, their splendor, or their glory.
12 The time is coming. The day is near when buying and selling will have no more meaning, because God's punishment will fall on everyone alike. 13 No merchants will live long enough to get back what they have lost, because God's anger is on everyone. Those who are evil cannot survive. 14 The trumpet blows, and everyone gets ready. But no one goes off to war, for God's anger will fall on everyone alike.
Punishment for Israel's Sins
15 There is fighting in the streets, and sickness and hunger in the houses. Anyone who is out in the country will die in the fighting, and anyone in the city will be a victim of sickness and hunger. 16 Some will escape to the mountains like doves frightened from the valleys. All of them will moan over their sins. 17 Everyone's hands will be weak, and their knees will shake. 18 They will put on sackcloth and they will tremble all over. Their heads will be shaved, and they will all be disgraced. 19 They will throw their gold and silver away in the streets like garbage, because neither silver nor gold can save them when the Lord pours out his fury. They cannot use it to satisfy their desires or fill their stomachs. Gold and silver led them into sin. 20 Once they were proud of their beautiful jewels, but they used them to make disgusting idols. That is why the Lord has made their wealth repulsive to them.
21 “I will let foreigners rob them,” says the Lord, “and lawbreakers will take all their wealth and defile it. 22 I will not interfere when my treasured Temple is profaned, when robbers break into it and defile it.
23 “Everything is in confusion —the land is full of murders and the cities are full of violence. 24 I will bring the most evil nations here and let them have your homes. Your strongest men will lose their confidence when I let the nations profane the places where you worship. 25 Despair is coming. You will look for peace and never find it. 26 One disaster will follow another, and a steady stream of bad news will pour in. You will beg the prophets to reveal what they foresee. The priests will have nothing to teach the people, and the elders will have no advice to give. 27 The king will mourn, the prince will give up hope, and the people will shake with fear. I will punish you for all you have done, and will judge you in the same way as you have judged others. This will show you that I am the Lord.”