Ezek 7.1-27 is a prophecy about the destruction of the Jewish people coming very soon. It describes those judgments and the affliction that comes with it upon the people. This judgment is near and coming very suddenly with no mercy.
v 1…Moreover (in addition to), the word of the Lord came to me saying,
v 2…”And you, son of man (“ben adam”as Ezekiel represents the people), thus says the Lord (Adonai) God (Yehovah) to the land of Israel, ‘An end (of Yehovah’s patience)! The end is coming on the four corners of the land.
v 3…Now the end (repeated for emphasis) is upon you (the people), I will send my anger against you, I shall judge you according to your ways, and I shall bring all your abominations upon you.
v 4…For my eye will have no pity on you, nor shall I spare you, but I shall bring your ways upon you (a recompense), and your abominations will be among you, then you will know that I am the Lord (it will be obvious that Yehovah brought this about).’ “
v 5…”Thus says the Lord God (Adonai Yehovah), ‘A disaster (evil) unique (like none before) disaster (evil), behold (take note), is coming!
v 6…An end is coming; the end has come! It has awakened (watches) against you; behold, it has come (the end of their evil ways)!
v 7…Your doom has come to you (encircled you), O inhabitant (dweller) of the land. The time has come, the day is near-tumult rather than joyful shouting on the mountains (like when the harvest is gathered).
v 8…Now I will shortly pour out my wrath on you (his punishment), judge you according to your ways (which was not God’s ways) and bring on you all your abominations (repeats v 3 to show the certainty of it).
v 9…And my eye will show you no pity (not spare), I will repay you according to your ways (not God’s), while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the Lord (Yehovah), do the smiting.
v 10…Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Your doom has gone forth; the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed (both terms refer to Nebuchadnezzar).
v 11…The violence (to the Jewish people) has grown into a rod of wickedness (they abused the needy, widow and orphans so God is sending the Babylonians to carry out the punishment upon them). None of them shall remain, none of their multitude, none of their wealth, nor anything eminent among them (nothing will be left of the people).
v 12…The time has come, the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn (they both are going to lose in any case); for wrath is against all their multitude (falls equally on all of them).
v 13…Indeed, the seller will not regain what he has sold as long as they both shall live (at the year of Jubilee or the Yovel in Lev 25.13-17 because he will be in exile). For the vision regarding all their multitude will not be averted; nor will any of them maintain his life by iniquity (Israel will be deprived of its possession, and the wicked will not prosper due to his sin).
v 14…They have blown the trumpet (for war) and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle (their courage has been taken away by Yehovah); for my wrath is against all their multitude (Yehovah is against them anyway-Lev 26.17).
v 15…The sword is outside (the city), and the plague and the famine within (the city). He who is in the field will die by the sword (of Babylon); famine and the plague will also consume those in the city (Yehovah’s wrath penetrates everywhere).
v 16…Even when their survivors escape, they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys (in a low state, hiding in the rocks and holes), all of them mourning, each over his own iniquity (that they have committed against Yehovah; they were overwhelmed with terror, shame and affliction).
v 17…All hands will hang limp, and all knees will become like water (entire loss of strength, their hearts melting like water).
v 18…And they will gird themselves with sackcloth (as a token of mourning) and shuddering (horror) will overwhelm them (of the enemy); and shame will be on all faces, and baldness on all their heads (a forbidden mourning practice-Deut 14.1).
v 19…And they shall fling their silver into the streets (being of no use) and their gold shall become an abhorrent thing (these cannot deliver them, and this may also be a reference to their idols who could not save them); their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord (this will also happen in the birth-pains). They cannot satisfy their appetite, nor can they fill their stomachs (can’t eat silver and gold) for their iniquity has become an occasion for stumbling (they used it for evil, not good).
v 20…And they transformed the beauty of his ornaments (the silver, gold, jewelry and treasure) into pride, and they made images of their abominations (idols) and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them (these possessions will be “niddah” and it is cast away as filth).
v 21…And I shall give it into the hands of the foreigners (give possession of it) as plunder and the wicked of the earth (Babylon) as spoil, and they will profane it.
v 22…I shall also turn my face from them (withdraw his protection), and they (Babylon) will profane my secret place (the Temple treasures). Then robbers will enter (where the treasures were) and profane it (the Temple, instead of considering what purpose these things were given to them; they will squander the treasures in contempt).
v 23…Make the chain (the fetters needed to take those who have escaped famine, disease and the sword into exile), for the land is full of bloody crimes (Hebrew “mishpat dammim” or “of bloody judgments”). And the city (Jerusalem) is full of violence.
v 24…Therefore (as a result), I shall bring the worst (evil ones) of the nations and they will possess their houses. I shall also make the pride of the strong ones cease (put an end to the pride of Israel; their strength or anything they base their power on), and their holy place will be profaned (they based their strength on the fact that they had the Temple and they lived on the land promised to them by Yehovah; they thought nothing was going to happen-Jer 7.1-15).
v 25…When the anguish comes (a cutting off has come) they will seek peace (with the Babylonians), but there will be none.
v 26…Disaster will come upon disaster (stroke upon stroke) and rumor will be added to rumor (alarming reports of the enemy); then they will seek a vision (for escape) from a prophet, but the law (Torah) will be lost from the priest and counsel from the elders (the spiritual counselors will have no revelation of what to do; we also have an example of where the concept of the “Tanak” comes from here. The Torah is with the priest, prophecy from the prophets, or Nevi’im, and the writings, or Ketuvim, are from the elders, making “Tanak”).
v 27…The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with horror and the hands of the people of the land (or “am ha eretz”), will tremble (all ranks will sink into despair, fear and mourning). According to their conduct (their way), and by their judgments (in the same measure they measured out to others) I shall judge them. And they shall know I am the Lord.”
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