The Hour of Doom

1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2“And as for you, son of man: Thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: The end is coming, the end is coming, over the four regions of the earth. 3Now the end is over you, and I will send my fury upon you. And I will judge you according to your ways. And I will place all your abominations before you. 4And my eye will not be lenient over you, and I will not take pity. Instead, I will set your ways upon you, and your abominations will be in your midst. And you shall know that I am the Lord.”

5Thus says the Lord God: “One affliction, behold, one affliction is approaching. 6The end is coming, the end is coming. It has been vigilant against you. Behold, it is approaching. 7Destruction is coming over you, who live upon the earth. The time is approaching, the day of slaughter is near, and it is not of the glory of the mountains. 8Now, very soon, I will pour out my wrath upon you, and I will fulfill my fury in you. And I will judge you according to your ways, and I will set upon you all your crimes. 9And my eye will not be lenient, nor will I take pity. Instead, I will place your ways upon you, and your abominations will be in your midst. And you shall know that I am the Lord, who is striking.

10Behold, the day! Behold, it approaches! Destruction has gone forth, the rod has blossomed, arrogance has germinated. 11Iniquity has risen up into a rod of impiety. There shall be nothing left of them, and of their people, and of the sound of them. And there shall be no rest for them. 12The time is approaching; the day is very near. Whoever buys should not rejoice. And whoever sells should not mourn. For wrath is over all of their people. 13For whoever sells will not return to what he has sold, but as yet their life will be among the living. For the vision concerning their entire multitude will not turn back. And man will not be strengthened in the iniquity of his life.

The Desolation of Israel

14Sound the trumpet! Let everyone be prepared! And yet there is no one who may go to battle. For my wrath is over all their people. 15The sword is outside, and the pestilence and the famine are inside. Whoever is in the field will die by the sword. And whoever is in the city will be devoured by the pestilence and the famine. 16And those who flee from among them will be saved. And they will be among the mountains, like doves in steep valleys, with everyone of them trembling, each one because of his iniquity. 17All hands will be weakened, and all knees will flow with water. 18And they will wrap themselves with haircloth, and dread will cover them. And shame will be upon every face, and baldness will be upon all of their heads. 19Their silver will be thrown away, and their gold will be like a dunghill. Their silver and their gold will have no power to free them in the day of the fury of the Lord. They will not satisfy their soul, and their bellies will not be filled, because of the scandal of their iniquity.

20And they have set arrogance as the ornament of their necklaces, and they have made images of their abominations and graven idols. Because of this, I have let it be an uncleanness for them. 21And I will give it into the hands of foreigners as a spoil, and to the impious of the earth as a prey, and they will defile it. 22And I will avert my face from them, and they will violate my place of mystery. And untamed persons will enter into it, and they will defile it.

23Cause it to be closed. For the land has been filled with the judgment of blood, and the city is full of iniquity. 24And I will lead in the most sinful among the Gentiles, and they will possess their houses. And I will cause the arrogance of the powerful to be quieted. And they will possess their sanctuaries. 25When anguish overwhelms them, they will seek peace, and there will be none. 26Disturbance will follow after disturbance, and rumor after rumor. And they will seek the vision of the prophet, and the law will perish from the priest, and counsel will perish from the elders. 27The king will mourn, and the prince will be clothed with grief, and the hands of the people of the earth will be greatly disturbed. I will act toward them in accord with their own way, and I will judge them in accord with their own judgments. And they shall know that I am the Lord.”