Ezekiel 7:1-13·~1 min

The Hour of Doom

The word of the LORD comes to Ezekiel with an oracle to the land of Israel: the end has come upon its four corners. God's anger is now directed against the people, and He will judge them according to their conduct and abominations. The message is severe and personal, because He will not spare or pity them.

A¹nd the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²“O son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says to the land of Israel: ³The end is now upon you, ⁴I will not look on you with pity,

The LORD repeats that a singular disaster is coming and that the end has awakened against the people. Doom has arrived, not a festive day on the mountains but a day of upheaval and reckoning. Very soon God will pour out His wrath, repay them according to their ways, and make them know that He is the LORD who strikes.

⁵This is what the Lord GOD says: ⁶The end has come! ⁷Doom has come to you, ⁸Very soon I will pour out My wrath upon you ⁹I will not look on you with pity,

The day has come to full bloom: the rod has budded, pride has blossomed, and violence has risen into an instrument of wickedness. The moment has arrived when buyer and seller alike lose their ordinary footing, because wrath rests on the whole multitude. Property, commerce, and civic stability cannot be recovered once the vision of judgment has gone forth.

¹⁰Behold, the day is here! ¹¹Their violence has grown into a rod ¹²The time has come; ¹³The seller will surely not recover what he sold

Section summaryThe LORD addresses the land of Israel with a repeated declaration that the end has come. Doom is no longer distant; wrath is near, judgment will be according to Israel's ways, and there will be no pity. The section closes by showing that violence and pride have matured into judgment so severe that ordinary patterns of buying, selling, and possession no longer matter.

Role in the chapterThis section sounds the chapter's alarm bell, insisting on the certainty, nearness, and irreversible nature of the coming end.