Ezekiel 7:1-27, Ezekiel 8:1-18, Ezekiel 9:1-11 NIRV

Ezekiel 7:1-27

The End Has Come

A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, “Son of man, I am the Lord and King. I say to the land of Israel, ‘The end has come! It has come on the four corners of the land. The end has now come for you. I will pour out my anger on you. I will judge you based on how you have lived. I will pay you back for all your evil practices. I hate them.

“ ‘I will not feel sorry for you. I will not spare you. You can be sure that I will pay you back for how you have lived. I will judge you for your evil practices. I hate them. You will know that I am the Lord.’

“I am the Lord and King. I say, ‘Horrible trouble is coming! No one has ever heard of anything like it. It is here!

“ ‘The end has come! The end has come! It has stirred itself up against you. It is here! Death has come on you who live in the land. The time for you to be destroyed has come. The day when it will happen is near. There is no joy on your mountains. There is nothing but panic.

“ ‘I am about to pour out all my great anger on you. I will judge you based on how you have lived. I will pay you back for all your evil practices. I hate them.

“ ‘I will not feel sorry for you. I will not spare you. I will pay you back for how you have lived. I will judge you for your evil practices. I hate them. You will know that I am the one who strikes you down. I am the Lord.

“ ‘The day for me to punish you is here! It is here! Death has arrived. The time is ripe for you to be judged. Your pride has grown so much that you will be destroyed. Your mean and harmful acts have become like a rod. I will use it to punish those who do evil. None of them will be left. None of their wealth or anything of value will remain.

“ ‘The time has come! The day has arrived! I will soon pour out my great anger on the whole crowd of you. Do not let the buyer be happy. Do not let the seller be sad. The seller will not get back the land that was sold. That will be true as long as both the buyer and seller are alive.

“ ‘Ezekiel, the vision I gave you about that whole crowd will come true. They have committed many sins. So not one of them will be able to save their life. They have blown trumpets. They have made everything ready. But no one will go into battle. I will soon pour out my great anger on the whole crowd.

“ ‘There is trouble everywhere. War is outside the city. Plague and hunger are inside it. Those out in the country will die in battle. Those in the city will be destroyed by hunger and plague. All those who escape and are left alive will run to the mountains. They will sound like doves of the valley when they cry over their sins.

“ ‘Their hands will be powerless to help them. They will wet themselves. They will put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. They will put on terror as if it were their clothes. Every face will be covered with shame. Every head will be shaved.

“ ‘They will throw their silver into the streets. They will treat their gold like an “unclean” thing. Their silver and gold won’t be able to save them on the day I pour out my anger. It will not be able to satisfy their hunger. Their stomachs can’t be filled with it. Their silver and gold have tripped them up. It has made them fall into sin. My people were so proud of their beautiful jewelry. They used it to make statues of their evil gods. I hate those gods. So I will turn their jewelry into an “unclean” thing for them.

“ ‘I will hand over their wealth to outsiders. I will turn it over to sinful people in other countries. They will make it “unclean.” I will turn my face away from my people. Robbers will make “unclean” the temple I love. They will enter it and make it “unclean.”

“ ‘Ezekiel, get ready to put my people in chains. The land is full of murderers. They are harming one another all over Jerusalem. I will bring the most evil nations against them. They will take over the houses in the city. I will put an end to the pride of those who are mighty. Their holy places will be made “unclean.”

“ ‘When terror comes, they will look for peace. But there will not be any. Trouble after trouble will come. One report will follow another. But they will not be true. The people will go searching for a vision from the prophets. But there will not be any. The teaching of the law by the priests will be gone. Advice from the elders will come to an end.

“ ‘The king will be filled with sadness. The princes will lose all hope. The hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will punish them based on how they have lived. I will judge them by their own standards. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

Read More of Ezekiel 7

Ezekiel 8:1-18

The People Worship Other Gods in the Temple

It was the sixth year since King Jehoiachin had been brought to Babylon as a prisoner. On the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting in my house. The elders of Judah were sitting there with me. The power of the Lord and King came on me there. I looked up and saw a figure that appeared to be human. From his waist down he looked like fire. From his waist up he looked as bright as glowing metal. He reached out what appeared to be a hand. He took hold of me by the hair of my head. The Spirit of the Lord lifted me up between earth and heaven. In visions God gave me, the Spirit took me to Jerusalem. He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the inner courtyard. The statue of a god was standing there. It made God very angry. There in front of me was the glory of the God of Israel. It looked just as it did in the vision I had seen on the plain.

Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” So I did. I saw a statue that made God angry. It was in the entrance of the gate north of the altar.

He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the Israelites are doing here? They are doing things I hate very much. Those things will cause me to go far away from my temple. But you will see things I hate even more.”

Then he brought me to the entrance to the courtyard. I looked up and saw a hole in the wall. He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall.” So I did. And I saw a door there.

He continued, “Go through it. Look at the evil things they are doing here. I hate those things.” So I went in and looked. All over the walls were pictures of all kinds of crawling things and “unclean” animals. The Lord hates it when people worship those things. There were also carvings of the gods of the people of Israel. In front of them stood 70 elders of Israel. Jaazaniah was standing there among them. He is the son of Shaphan. Each elder was holding a shallow cup. A sweet-smelling cloud of incense was rising from the cups.

The Lord spoke to me. He said, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of Israel are doing in the dark? Each of them is in his own room worshiping his own god. They say, ‘The Lord doesn’t see us. He has deserted the land.’ ” He continued, “You will see them doing things I hate even more.”

Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house. I saw women sitting there. They were mourning for the god named Tammuz. The Lord said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing? You will see things I hate even more.”

Then he brought me into the inner courtyard of the Lord’s house. About 25 men were there. They were at the entrance to the Lord’s temple between the porch and the altar. Their backs were turned toward the temple. Their faces were turned toward the east. And they were bowing down to the sun.

He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen all of this? The people of Judah are doing things here that I hate. This is a very serious matter. They are harming one another all through the land. They continue to make me very angry. Just look at them making fun of me! So I am angry with them. I will punish them. I will not spare them or feel sorry for them. They might even shout in my ears. But I will not listen to them.”

Read More of Ezekiel 8

Ezekiel 9:1-11

The Lord Judges Those Who Worship Other Gods

Then I heard the Lord call out in a loud voice. He said, “Bring here those who are appointed to bring my judgment on the city. Make sure each of them has a weapon in his hand.” I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate. It faces north. Each of them had a deadly weapon in his hand. A man wearing linen clothes came along with them. He was carrying a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.

The glory of the God of Israel had been above the cherubim. It moved from there to the doorway of the temple. Then the Lord called to the man who was dressed in linen clothes. He had the writing kit. The Lord said to him, “Go all through Jerusalem. Look for those who are sad and sorry about all the things being done there. I hate those things. Put a mark on the foreheads of those people.”

I heard him speak to the six men. He said, “Follow him through the city. Do not show any pity or concern. Kill the old men and women, the young men and women, and the children. But do not touch anyone who has the mark. Start at my temple.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple.

Then he said to the men, “Make the temple ‘unclean.’ Fill the courtyards with dead bodies. Go!” So they went out and started killing people all through the city. While they were doing it, I was left alone. I fell with my face toward the ground. I cried out, “Lord and King, are you going to destroy all the Israelites who are still left alive? Will you pour out your great anger on all those who remain in Jerusalem?”

He answered me, “The sin of Israel and Judah is very great. The land is full of murderers. Its people are not being fair to one another anywhere in Jerusalem. They say, ‘The Lord has deserted the land. He doesn’t see us.’ So I will not spare them or feel sorry for them. Anything that happens to them will be their own fault.”

Then the man wearing linen clothes returned. He had the writing kit. He reported, “I’ve done what you commanded.”

Read More of Ezekiel 9