The Hour of Doom
1 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “You, son of man, the Lord God says to the land of Israel,
‘The end! The end has come
on the four corners of the land.
3 Now is the end of you!
I will send my anger against you
and will judge you according to your ways.
I will repay you for all of your detestable practices.
4 I will not spare you,
nor will I look on you with pity,
but I will bring your own deeds upon you
and your detestable practices will be among you.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.’
5 The Lord God says:
‘Disaster! A disaster unlike any other is coming.
6 The end has come. The end has come!
It has awakened against you.
Yes, it is coming.
7 Your doom has come to you,
inhabitants of the land!
The time has come!
The day is near,
a day of tumult on the mountains
and not joyful noise.
8 Now I will soon pour out my wrath on you
and spend my anger on you,
and will judge you according to your ways.
I will punish you for all your detestable practices.
9 I will not spare you,
nor will I look on you with pity.
I will punish you according to your ways.
Your detestable practices will be among you.
Then you will know that I, the Lord, strike.
10 The day is here! The day has come!
Your doom has arrived.
The rod has blossomed.
Pride has budded.
11 The increase in violence
has become the rod of wickedness.
None of them will remain,
none of their multitude,
none of their wealth.
There will be nothing of value among them.
. 12 The time has come!
The day draws near.
Do not let the buyer rejoice,
nor the seller mourn,
for wrath is on the whole population.
13 For the seller shall not return to that which is sold,
although he still lives,
for the vision effects the entire population
and shall not be revoked,
nor, with all of the sin in their lives,
shall any save himself.
The Desolation of Israel
14 They have blown the trumpet
and have made everything ready,
but no one goes to the battle,
for my wrath covers the entire population.
15 The sword is outside
and plague and famine within.
He who is in the field will die by the sword.
He who is in the city will be devoured
by famine and plague.
16 But of those who escape,
they will escape to mountains
like doves of the valleys,
all of them moaning,
each one for his sin.
17 Every hand will be feeble,
and every knee will be weak as water.
18 They will clothe themselves with sackcloth,
and horror will cover them.
Shame will be on every face
and baldness on every head.
19 They will cast their silver in the streets,
and their gold will be like an unclean thing.
Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them
on the day of the Lord’s wrath.
It will not satisfy their souls
or fill their bellies,
because it has been the stumbling block
of their iniquity.
20 As for the beauty of their jewels,
which he set in majesty,
they took them and made them
into the images of their idols and detestable things.
Therefore I have made them repulsive to them.
21 I will give them into the hands of strangers as prey
and to the wicked of the earth as plunder,
and they will profane it.
22 I will also turn my face from them,
and they will profane my secret place.
Robbers will enter into it and profane it.
23 Make chains, for the land is full of crimes of bloodshed,
and the city is full of violence.
24 Therefore I will bring the worst among the nations,
and they will possess their houses.
I will also end the pride of the strong.
Their holy places will be profaned.
25 Destruction is coming!
They will seek peace,
and there will be none.
26 Mischief will pile on mischief
and rumor on rumor.
They will look for a vision from the prophet,
but the law will perish from the priest
and counsel from the elders.
27 The king will mourn,
and the prince will be clothed with desolation.
The hands of the people of the land will be troubled.
I will do to them according to their ways
and according to their own judgments, I will judge them.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.’ ”