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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.’”

The Prophet seems here to be at variance with himself, because he formerly pronounced them all devoted to destruction. How, then, does he now say that some should come hither and thither, to seek hiding-places in the mountains? But what seem at, variance easily agree, because by these words he means that the life of those who escaped should be more miserable than if they had perished by the sword, or had been consumed by pestilence and famine. And why so? They shall be, says he, in the mountains. By mountains he doubtless understands dry and desert places. But he who seeks hiding-places in the mountains is only anxious about preserving his life, since he expects not to live. So, therefore, the Prophet means, nothing can be more miserable than the exile of those who had escaped, because they would be in dry and desert places, like doves of the valleys, there they will not dare to cry out. He means, also, that they would be so timorous, that even in anxiety, want, and squalidness, and despair of all things, finally, in the heap of their miseries, they would groan as doves, and as doves of the valleys, that is, which hide themselves through fear, and dare not show themselves; unless, perhaps, the contrast increases the evil, as if he had said that they should be much more astonished, because the unaccustomed aspect of the place should strike them with greater fear. Now, therefore, we understand the Prophet’s meaning — if any should escape from the people, yet nothing else would happen through their flight, than that they should miserably protract their life in the greatest anxiety. For we know that this is the last solace in evils, when men complain freely, and unburden themselves by weeping and groaning. But when the wretched one dares not complain, he becomes as it were twice dead among the living. It follows —