Ezekiel 7:5Thus says the Lord Yahweh: An evil, an only evil; behold, it comes.
The setting
Babylon, ~593 BC. Ezekiel sits by the Kebar River among Jewish exiles when God shows him Jerusalem's coming destruction. Modern-day Iraq.
The emotion here: overwhelmed by the weight of God's message of judgment
The original word
ra'ah (רָעָה) — calamity, disaster, the kind of evil that destroys everything
Why it matters
Ezekiel was speaking to exiles who still hoped Jerusalem would survive — this shattered their last hope
Read with care
What most readers miss in Ezekiel 7:5
The repetition 'evil, an only evil' — Hebrew uses this doubling for absolute certainty
Common misconceptionPeople think this is just about ancient Jerusalem, but Ezekiel was warning exiles in Babylon that their homeland was truly finished — no going back.
The thread continues
Verses that echo Ezekiel 7:5
Bible Genome reading
Ezekiel 7:5 — Bible Genome reading
Emotional genome
Ezekiel 7:5 comes from the book of Ezekiel, written during the Exile period. These words are attributed to God. The dominant emotion in this verse is angry, with a comfort power of 10% and a tone that is urgent. It belongs to the prophecy genre of biblical literature. Key themes include unprecedented evil, divine announcement, impending doom. Notable phrases: an evil, an only evil; behold, it comes. This verse contains a promise of God. This verse contains prophecy.
Emotionally similar
Verses that meet the same angry
“Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, 'I am strong.'”
— Joel 3:10
“You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!”
— Matthew 23:24
“Listen to this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who tell their husba…”
— Amos 4:1
“I hate, I despise your feasts, and I can't stand your solemn assemblies.”
— Amos 5:21
“Your eyes shall not pity; life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”
— Deuteronomy 19:21
Your reflection
What does Ezekiel 7:5 mean to you, today?
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