23 Make the chain; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.
And he said unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness; for they say, Jehovah hath forsaken the earth, and Jehovah seeth not.
Thus hath Jehovah said unto me: Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck;
Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain.
And Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem [with it] from one end to another; beside his sin with which he made Judah to sin, in doing evil in the sight of Jehovah.
Her princes in the midst of her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves, that leave nothing for the morning. Her prophets are vain-glorious, treacherous persons; her priests profane the sanctuary, they do violence to the law.
She too was carried away, she went into captivity: her infants also were dashed in pieces, at the top of all the streets; and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound with chains.
And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away; and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
Her princes in the midst of her are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
and also [because of] the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Jehovah would not pardon.
and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A city that sheddeth blood in her midst, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself. Thou art become guilty by thy blood which thou hast shed, and hast defiled thyself with thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the nations, and a mocking unto all countries. Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee, who art infamous [and] full of tumult. Behold, the princes of Israel have been in thee to shed blood, each according to his power.
And she brought up one of her whelps; it became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men. And the nations heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with nose-rings into the land of Egypt. And when she saw that she had waited [and] her hope was lost, she took another of her whelps, [and] made him a young lion. And he went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.
And he said unto me, Seest thou, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here, that they yet fill the land with violence, and keep provoking me afresh to anger? And behold, they put the branch to their nose.
He hath hedged me about that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.
The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him, being bound in chains, among all the captivity of Jerusalem and Judah, that were carried away captive to Babylon.
But thine eyes and thy heart are only on thine extortion, and on the blood of the innocent, to shed it, and on oppression and on violence, to do it.
[if] ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed no innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt;
Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths;
For your hands are stained with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips speak lies, your tongue muttereth unrighteousness:
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ezekiel 7
Commentary on Ezekiel 7 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 7
In this chapter the approaching ruin of the land of Israel is most particularly foretold in affecting expressions often repeated, that if possible they might be awakened by repentance to prevent it. The prophet must tell them,
Eze 7:1-15
We have here fair warning given of the destruction of the land of Israel, which was now hastening on apace. God, by the prophet, not only sends notice of it, but will have it inculcated in the same expressions, to show that the thing is certain, that it is near, that the prophet is himself affected with it and desires they should be so too, but finds them deaf, and stupid, and unaffected. When the town is on fire men do no seek for fine words and quaint expressions in which to give an account of it, but cry about the streets, with a loud and lamentable voice, "Fire! fire!' So the prophet here proclaims, An end! an end! it has come, it has come; behold, it has come. He that hath ears to hear let him hear.
Eze 7:16-22
We have attended the fate of those that are cut off, and are now to attend the flight of those that have an opportunity of escaping the danger; some of them shall escape (v. 16), but what the better? As good die once as, in a miserable life, die a thousand deaths, and escape only like Cain to be fugitives and vagabonds, and afraid of being slain by every one they meet; so shall these be.
Eze 7:23-27
Here is,