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7. The End Has Come

¹ The word of the LORD came to me: ² “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says to the land of Israel:

   “‘The end! The end has come
   upon the four corners of the land!
³ The end is now upon you,
   and I will unleash my anger against you.
I will judge you according to your conduct
   and repay you for all your detestable practices.
⁴ I will not look on you with pity;
   I will not spare you.
I will surely repay you for your conduct
   and for the detestable practices among you.

“‘Then you will know that I am the LORD.’

⁵ “This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

   “‘Disaster! Unheard-of Most Hebrew manuscripts; some Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac Disaster after disaster!
   See, it comes!
⁶ The end has come!
   The end has come!
It has roused itself against you.
   See, it comes!
⁷ Doom has come upon you,
   upon you who dwell in the land.
The time has come! The day is near!
   There is panic, not joy, on the mountains.
⁸ I am about to pour out my wrath on you
   and spend my anger against you.
I will judge you according to your conduct
   and repay you for all your detestable practices.
⁹ I will not look on you with pity;
   I will not spare you.
I will repay you for your conduct
   and for the detestable practices among you.

“‘Then you will know that it is I the LORD who strikes you.

    ¹⁰ “‘See, the day!
   See, it comes!
Doom has burst forth,
   the rod has budded,
   arrogance has blossomed!
¹¹ Violence has arisen, Or The violent one has become
   a rod to punish the wicked.
None of the people will be left,
   none of that crowd—
none of their wealth,
   nothing of value.
¹² The time has come!
   The day has arrived!
Let not the buyer rejoice
   nor the seller grieve,
   for my wrath is on the whole crowd.
¹³ The seller will not recover
   the property that was sold—
   as long as both buyer and seller live.
For the vision concerning the whole crowd
   will not be reversed.
Because of their sins, not one of them
   will preserve their life.

    ¹⁴ “‘They have blown the trumpet,
   they have made all things ready,
but no one will go into battle,
   for my wrath is on the whole crowd.
¹⁵ Outside is the sword;
   inside are plague and famine.
Those in the country
   will die by the sword;
those in the city
   will be devoured by famine and plague.
¹⁶ The fugitives who escape
   will flee to the mountains.
Like doves of the valleys,
   they will all moan,
   each for their own sins.
¹⁷ Every hand will go limp;
   every leg will be wet with urine.
¹⁸ They will put on sackcloth
   and be clothed with terror.
Every face will be covered with shame,
   and every head will be shaved.

    ¹⁹ “‘They will throw their silver into the streets,
   and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean.
Their silver and gold
   will not be able to deliver them
   in the day of the LORD’s wrath.
It will not satisfy their hunger
   or fill their stomachs,
   for it has caused them to stumble into sin.
²⁰ They took pride in their beautiful jewelry
   and used it to make their detestable idols.
They made it into vile images;
   therefore I will make it a thing unclean for them.
²¹ I will give their wealth as plunder to foreigners
   and as loot to the wicked of the earth,
   who will defile it.
²² I will turn my face away from the people,
   and robbers will desecrate the place I treasure.
They will enter it
   and will defile it.

    ²³ “‘Prepare chains!
   For the land is full of bloodshed,
   and the city is full of violence.
²⁴ I will bring the most wicked of nations
   to take possession of their houses.
I will put an end to the pride of the mighty,
   and their sanctuaries will be desecrated.
²⁵ When terror comes,
   they will seek peace in vain.
²⁶ Calamity upon calamity will come,
   and rumor upon rumor.
They will go searching for a vision from the prophet,
   priestly instruction in the law will cease,
   the counsel of the elders will come to an end.
²⁷ The king will mourn,
   the prince will be clothed with despair,
   and the hands of the people of the land will tremble.
I will deal with them according to their conduct,
   and by their own standards I will judge them.

“‘Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”

As to the beginning of the verse there is no ambiguity, for God pronounces that the Jews would be miserable, because he would avert his face from them For in this was situated their happiness, that God, as he had promised, would regard their safety. As long, therefore, as God deigned to look upon them, their safety was certain, so that there was no fear of danger. But when he no longer cared for them, these wretched ones were exposed to all calamities; hence they are said to be deprived of all protection, when alienated from God. This, then, is one clause. As to what follows, expositors interpret it of the sanctuary; and I do not greatly object to this, if any one approves of this sense, but I take it in a wider sense. For God in my view calls the land his hidden place, which was safe under his protection. For he says, that he had extended wings, under which he could hide the people, (Exodus 19:4;) and David prays that God would receive him within the hidden place of his tabernacle. (Psalm 27:5.) Since, therefore, the people was protected by the power of God, the land is deservedly called God’s hidden place, as an asylum, and it will be proper so to translate it. Devastators, therefore, shall profane my asylum, because they shall enter in there, and shall profane it. He repeats the same word. Those who take it for the sanctuary restrict it to the holy of holies, for so they call the shrine or oracle whence the answers were given; and they call it an oracle, not from praying, but because they enquired there of secret things. But as I have said, that seems to be forced, though I will not quarrel with it, but show what I like better. The meaning is, however God had spared the Jews for a long time, nay, had them hidden, as it were, under his wings, and the land was as it were a sacred asylum, since they were so hidden that they felt no injury from foreign enemies: yet this should profit them nothing, because God would throw down all bulwarks, and give easy access to their enemies, so that they might break through, and then profane and confuse all things. It follows —