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The time has come, the day has arrived. Let neither the buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn; for wrath is against all their multitude.
Ezekiel 7:12 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB The time has come! The day draws near. Don’t let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is on all its multitude.
  • KJV The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.
  • BSB The time has come; the day has arrived. Let the buyer not rejoice and the seller not mourn, for wrath is upon the whole multitude.
  • NKJV The time has come, The day draws near. ‘Let not the buyer rejoice, Nor the seller mourn, For wrath is on their whole multitude.
  • NLT Yes, the time has come; the day is here! Buyers should not rejoice over bargains, nor sellers grieve over losses, for all of them will fall under my terrible anger.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The day is near; buyer and seller alike have no reason to rejoice or mourn, for wrath falls on all. Ordinary commerce loses meaning before judgment.

Overview

The Lord announces that normal life, buying and selling, becomes irrelevant because wrath rests on the whole community. Neither gain nor loss matters when judgment overtakes everyone alike. The verse exposes how fleeting earthly transactions are in light of God's coming day, echoing the call to value eternal things above temporal ones.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Isa 5:13–14Therefore my people go into captivity for lack of knowledge. Their honorable men are famished, and their multitudes are parched with thirst.
  • 1 Cor 7:29–31But I say this, brothers: the time is short, that from now on, both those who have wives may be as though they had none;
  • Isa 24:1–2Behold, Yahweh makes the earth empty, makes it waste, turns it upside down, and scatters its inhabitants.
  • Jer 32:7–8‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle shall come to you, saying, “Buy my field that is in Anathoth; for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.”’”
  • Ezek 7:5–7“Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘An evil! A unique evil! Behold, it comes.
  • Ezek 7:10“‘Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! Your doom has gone out. The rod has blossomed. Pride has budded.
  • Ezek 6:11–12“Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Strike with your hand, and stamp with your foot, and say, “Alas!” Because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel; for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.
  • Jas 5:8–9You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
  • Ezek 7:13–14For the seller won’t return to that which is sold, although they are still alive; for the vision concerns the whole multitude of it. None shall return; neither will any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.
  • Jer 32:24–25“Behold, the mounds, they have come to the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence; and what you have spoken has happened; and behold, you see it.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Ezekiel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Ezekiel 7:12YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on EzekielMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.

How Ezekiel 7:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.