וַיְהִי דְבַר ה' אֵלַי לֵאמֹר

The word of the Lord was with me, saying:

וְאַתָּה בֶן־אָדָם כֹּה־אָמַר ה' אֱלוֹהִים לְאַדְמַת יִשְׂרָאֵל קֵץ בָּא הַקֵּץ עַל־אַרְבַּע כַּנְפוֹת הָאָרֶץ

You, Son of man, so said the Lord God to the territory of Israel: An end, the end has come upon the four corners of the land, upon this entire place.

עַתָּה הַקֵּץ עָלַיִךְ וְשִׁלַּחְתִּי אַפִּי בָּךְ וּשְׁפַטְתִּיךְ כִּדְרָכָיִךְ וְנָתַתִּי עָלַיִךְ אֵת כָּל־תּוֹעֲבֹתָיִךְ

Now the end is upon you, and I will send My anger against you, I will judge you in accordance with your ways, in accordance with the actions of those who dwell in the land, and I will lay retribution for all your abominations upon you. Jerusalem will soon be destroyed, and the end of Judean sovereignty over the land will come.

וְלֹא־תָחוֹס עֵינִי עָלַיִךְ וְלֹא אֶחְמוֹל כִּי דְרָכַיִךְ עָלַיִךְ אֶתֵּן וְתוֹעֲבוֹתַיִךְ בְּתוֹכֵךְ תִּהְיֶיןָ וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי־אֲנִי ה'

My eye will not pity you and I will have no compassion, for I will lay the punishment for your ways upon you, and your abominations will be in your midst. You will not consider the punishment coincidental, but a direct response to your deeds. And you will know that I am the Lord.

כֹּה אָמַר ה' אֱלוֹהִים רָעָה אַחַת רָעָה הִנֵּה בָאָה

So said the Lord God: A singular evil, behold, evil is coming.

קֵץ בָּא בָּא הַקֵּץ הֵקִיץ אֵלָיִךְ הִנֵּה בָּאָה

An end [ketz] has come; the end [haketz] has come, it has arisen [hekitz] against you. This is a deliberate use of alliteration. Behold, it is coming. The rule of the people of Judah over the land is coming to an end.

בָּאָה הַצְּפִירָה אֵלֶיךָ יוֹשֵׁב הָאָרֶץ בָּא הָעֵת קָרוֹב הַיּוֹם מְהוּמָה וְלֹא־הֵד הָרִים

The appointed time has come to you, inhabitant of the land; the time has come, the day of tumult is near, and it is not merely a dim, distant mountain echo, but a day of actual bloodshed.

עַתָּה מִקָּרוֹב אֶשְׁפּוֹךְ חֲמָתִי עָלַיִךְ וְכִלֵּיתִי אַפִּי בָּךְ וּשְׁפַטְתִּיךְ כִּדְרָכָיִךְ וְנָתַתִּי עָלַיִךְ אֵת כָּל־תּוֹעֲבוֹתָיִךְ

Now, soon, I will pour My fury upon you, I will spend My wrath upon you, and I will judge you in accordance with your ways, and I will lay all your abominations upon you. The prophet reiterates that this is not an arbitrary punishment unrelated to the people’s conduct; rather, it is a direct result of their evil actions.

וְלֹא־תָחוֹס עֵינִי וְלֹא אֶחְמוֹל כִּדְרָכַיִךְ עָלַיִךְ אֶתֵּן וְתוֹעֲבוֹתַיִךְ בְּתוֹכֵךְ תִּהְיֶיןָ וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי אֲנִי ה' מַכֶּה

My eye will not pity, and I will have no compassion; I will lay upon you in accordance with your ways, and your abominations will be in your midst, as I will afflict you according to the measure of your corruption, and you will know and understand that I, the Lord, am smiting.

הִנֵּה הַיּוֹם הִנֵּה בָאָה יָצְאָה הַצְּפִרָה צָץ הַמַּטֶּה פָּרַח הַזָּדוֹן

Behold the day, behold, it is coming; the appointed time, or the morning, or the encirclement (see commentary on verse 7), has come forth, the rod coming to strike you has blossomed, evil has bloomed. The enemy is already prepared to appear.

הֶחָמָס קָם לְמַטֵּה־רֶשַׁע לֹא מֵהֶם וְלֹא מֵהֲמוֹנָם וְלֹא מֵהֱמֵהֶם וְלֹא־נֹהַּ בָּהֶם

Villainy, your lack of justice and ethics, has risen into a rod of wickedness to strike the wicked; there shall not be anything left among them, and not among their multitude [hamonam], and not among their offspring [mehemehem]. The word mehemehem appears to be a combination of the words mehem and hem, literally “those from them,” or it may also allude to hamiyat hahamon, the murmur of the multitude. Accordingly, the verse means that all will perish, and there is no one mourning among them. Alternatively, they will have no respite.

בָּא הָעֵת הִגִּיעַ הַיּוֹם הַקּוֹנֶה אַל־יִשְׂמָח וְהַמּוֹכֵר אַל־יִתְאַבָּל כִּי חָרוֹן אֶל־כָּל־הֲמוֹנָהּ

The time has come; the day has arrived when all will end. Let the buyer not rejoice in his purchase, and let the reluctant seller not mourn over the property he was forced to sell. On the approaching day of judgment, all be will lost and commercial transactions will be of no consequence, as great wrath is coming upon all its, the city’s, multitude.

כִּי הַמּוֹכֵר אֶל־הַמִּמְכָּר לֹא יָשׁוּב וְעוֹד בַּחַיִּים חַיָּתָם כִּי־חָזוֹן אֶל־כָּל־הֲמוֹנָהּ לֹא יָשׁוּב וְאִישׁ בַּעֲוֹנוֹ חַיָּתוֹ לֹא־יִתְחַזָּקוּ

For the seller will not return to that which was sold; even those who remain alive will not return to their land, as the vision of exile to all its multitude will not be reversed. Each man, his life is in his iniquity, they will not be strengthened. The soul of the sinner will be unable to withstand the suffering; he will not survive in exile.

תָּקְעוּ בַתָּקוֹעַ וְהָכִין הַכֹּל וְאֵין הֹלֵךְ לַמִּלְחָמָה כִּי חֲרוֹנִי אֶל־כָּל־הֲמוֹנָהּ

The prophet describes the impending retribution: At the enemy’s approach, they have sounded the horn to call the people to arms and have prepared everything for battle, but despite this, there is no one going to war due to fear and despair, for My wrath is turned upon all its, the city’s, multitude. That is to say, it is pointless to prepare for war or to go forth in battle. My great wrath will bring crushing defeat upon the warriors.

הַחֶרֶב בַּחוּץ וְהַדֶּבֶר וְהָרָעָב מִבָּיִת אֲשֶׁר בַּשָּׂדֶה בַּחֶרֶב יָמוּת וַאֲשֶׁר בָּעִיר רָעָב וָדֶבֶר יֹאכְלֶנּוּ

The sword is outside the city, and pestilence and famine are within it; he who is found in the field will die by sword, and he who is in the city, famine and pestilence will consume him.

וּפָלְטוּ פְּלִיטֵיהֶם וְהָיוּ אֶל הֶהָרִים כְּיוֹנֵי הַגֵּאָיוֹת כֻּלָּם הֹמוֹת אִישׁ בַּעֲוֹנוֹ

Their survivors, those who manage to evade the sword and the other calamities, will escape, and they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, who are banished from their nests to remote spots in the mountains, all of them cooing, sounding the sound of panic; so shall each man moan in his iniquity.

כָּל־הַיָּדַיִם תִּרְפֶּינָה וְכָל־בִּרְכַּיִם תֵּלַכְנָה מָּיִם

All hands will slacken, and all knees will drip with water in fear. One who is struck by a sudden fear occasionally loses control of his bladder.

וְחָגְרוּ שַׂקִּים וְכִסְּתָה אוֹתָם פַּלָּצוּת וְאֶל כָּל־פָּנִים בּוּשָׁה וּבְכָל־רָאשֵׁיהֶם קָרְחָה

They will gird themselves in sackcloth in mourning, and terror will cover them; on every face there will be shame, and on all their heads, baldness. They will pull out their hair in pain and grief.

כַּסְפָּם בַּחוּצוֹת יַשְׁלִיכוּ וּזְהָבָם לְנִדָּה יִהְיֶה כַּסְפָּם וּזְהָבָם לֹא־יוּכַל לְהַצִּילָם בְּיוֹם עֶבְרַת ה' נַפְשָׁם לֹא יְשַׂבֵּעוּ וּמֵעֵיהֶם לֹא יְמַלֵּאוּ כִּי־מִכְשׁוֹל עֲוֹנָם הָיָה

They will cast their silver into the streets, and their gold will become an abhorrence; as their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them on the day of the fury of the Lord. They will not satisfy their souls and they will not fill their innards. The people will spurn their possessions, as they will afford the people no satisfaction, and they will be useless against the enemy. Moreover, they will discard their property, for it was the obstacle of their iniquity. Their wealth led them on this path from which there is no escape.

וּצְבִי עֶדְיוֹ לְגָאוֹן שָׂמָהוּ וְצַלְמֵי תוֹעֲבֹתָם שִׁקּוּצֵיהֶם עָשׂוּ בוֹ עַל־כֵּן נְתַתִּיו לָהֶם לְנִדָּה

The destruction will not merely strike the land and its inhabitants; it will also reach the Temple and tear down Israel’s national treasure: The magnificence of its ornament, Israel’s splendor, the Temple, He had established it for a source of pride for Israel, but in it they made the images of their abominations, their repugnant objects. They sullied its beauty with the idolatrous images they installed therein. Therefore, I rendered it an abhorrence for them.

וּנְתַתִּיו בְּיַד־הַזָּרִים לָבַז וּלְרִשְׁעֵי הָאָרֶץ לְשָׁלָל וְחִלְּלוּהֻ

I will deliver it, the Temple, into the hand of the strangers as loot and to the wicked of the earth as spoils, and they will profane it.

וַהֲסִבֹּתִי פָנַי מֵהֶם וְחִלְּלוּ אֶת־צְפוּנִי וּבָאוּ־בָהּ פָּרִיצִים וְחִלְּלוּהָ

I will turn My face away from them, and they will profane My place of concealment, the Temple; and the villainous, cruel men, will enter it, and they will profane it.

עֲשֵׂה הָרַתּוֹק כִּי הָאָרֶץ מָלְאָה מִשְׁפַּט דָּמִים וְהָעִיר מָלְאָה חָמָס

Make the chain for those who have been convicted, for the land is full of cases of bloodguilt, capital crimes, and the city is full of villainy.

וְהֵבֵאתִי רָעֵי גוֹיִם וְיָרְשׁוּ אֶת־בָּתֵּיהֶם וְהִשְׁבַּתִּי גְּאוֹן עַזִּים וְנִחֲלוּ מְקַדְשֵׁיהֶם

I will bring the evildoers of the nations, and they will take possession of their houses; I will eliminate the pride of the brazen of Israel, and their holy places will be profaned.

קְפָדָה־בָא וּבִקְשׁוּ שָׁלוֹם וָאָיִן

Excision is coming; they will seek peace, but there is none.

הֹוָה עַל־הֹוָה תָּבוֹא וּשְׁמֻעָה אֶל־שְׁמוּעָה תִּהְיֶה וּבִקְשׁוּ חָזוֹן מִנָּבִיא וְתוֹרָה תֹּאבַד מִכֹּהֵן וְעֵצָה מזְּקֵנִים

Calamity will come upon calamity, and report of tragedy will be upon report of tragedy; they will seek a vision from the prophet, and Torah will be lost even from the priest. The priests were traditionally the masters of Torah scholarship and instruction. And the ability to give counsel will be lost from the elders.

הַמֶּלֶךְ יִתְאַבָּל וְנָשִׂיא יִלְבַּשׁ שְׁמָמָה וִידֵי עַם־הָאָרֶץ תִּבָּהַלְנָה מִדַּרְכָּם אֶעֱשֶׂה אֹתָם וּבְמִשְׁפְּטֵיהֶם אֶשְׁפְּטֵם וְיָדְעוּ כִּי־אֲנִי ה'

The king will mourn, the prince will wear astonishment and helplessness, and the hands of the people of the land will be panicked, as I will do to them in accordance with their repulsive ways, and I will judge them according to the judgment that they deserve, and they will know that I am the Lord.