Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace

Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy Of Grace
	;
Album	The Life of the World to Come
Released	2009
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	4:46
Previous Track	"Isaiah 45:23"

Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy Of Grace is the 12th and final song on the album The Life of the World to Come.

Bible Verse[]

The word of the Lord came to me: ² "Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel:

'The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land! ³ The end is now upon you, and I will unleash my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. ⁴ I will not look on you with pity; I will not spare you. I will surely repay you for your conduct and for the detestable practices among you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.' ⁵ "This is what the Sovereign Lord says: 'Disaster! Unheard-of disaster! See, it comes! ⁶ The end has come! The end has come! It has roused itself against you. See, it comes! ⁷ Doom has come upon you, upon you who dwell in the land. The time has come! The day is near! There is panic, not joy, on the mountains. ⁸ I am about to pour out my wrath on you and spend my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. ⁹ I will not look on you with pity; I will not spare you. I will repay you for your conduct and for the detestable practices among you. Then you will know that it is I the Lord who strikes you. ¹⁰ See, the day! See, it comes! Doom has burst forth, the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed! ¹¹ Violence has arisen, a rod to punish the wicked. None of the people will be left, none of that crowd—none of their wealth, nothing of value. ¹² The time has come! The day has arrived! Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller grieve, for my wrath is on the whole crowd. ¹³ The seller will not recover the property that was sold—as long as both buyer and seller live. For the vision concerning the whole crowd will not be reversed. Because of their sins, not one of them will preserve their life. ¹⁴ They have blown the trumpet, they have made all things ready, but no one will go into battle, for my wrath is on the whole crowd. ¹⁵ Outside is the sword; inside are plague and famine. Those in the country will die by the sword; those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague. ¹⁶ The fugitives who escape will flee to the mountains. Like doves of the valleys, they will all moan, each for their own sins. ¹⁷ Every hand will go limp; every leg will be wet with urine. ¹⁸ They will put on sackcloth and be clothed with terror. Every face will be covered with shame, and every head will be shaved. ¹⁹ They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean. Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath. It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, for it has caused them to stumble into sin. ²⁰ They took pride in their beautiful jewelry and used it to make their detestable idols. They made it into vile images; therefore I will make it a thing unclean for them. ²¹ I will give their wealth as plunder to foreigners and as loot to the wicked of the earth, who will defile it. ²² I will turn my face away from the people, and robbers will desecrate the place I treasure. They will enter it and will defile it. ²³ Prepare chains! For the land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of violence. ²⁴ I will bring the most wicked of nations to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the mighty, and their sanctuaries will be desecrated. ²⁵ When terror comes, they will seek peace in vain. ²⁶ Calamity upon calamity will come, and rumor upon rumor. They will go searching for a vision from the prophet, priestly instruction in the law will cease, the counsel of the elders will come to an end. ²⁷ The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with despair, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will deal with them according to their conduct, and by their own standards I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.' ^{NIV Translation}

Lyrics[]

The clouds explode and then the desert blooms
Someone will need to mop this floor for me
When I emerge I find my car
Like a cathedral in a dream of the future

Drive till the rain stops
Keep driving

Pull over and blast off when I get the chance
Clear as an insect's wings in sunlight
Flip on the high stakes radio
Try to sing the words right

Drive till the rain stops
Keep driving

I had his arms tied up behind him
We were together all day
Maybe make Culiacán by sunset
Try to anyway

High as the clouds now
Flying
Drive till the rain stops
Keep driving

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]

"Because when you torture a person to death, who do you really torture? Yourself. That's the lesson of Catholicism. It's the lesson I've come to share." -- 2012-09-01 - Front Porch Music Festival - Livermore, CA
"This song continues my general theme of transcendence through physical torture." -- 2012-10-13 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY
"This is a song about the unique friendship between two guys, one of whom is tied to a chair and will be dead by the end of the song, and the other who has no name and won't ever have one." -- 2012-12-17 - The Showbox - Seattle, WA
Quoted from A.E. Housman, 1936 in The Life of the World to Come: a film by Rian Johnson, liner notes: The thoughts of others / Were light and fleeting, / Of lover's meeting / Or luck or fame. // Mine were of trouble, / And mine were steady, / So I was ready / When trouble came.
"Originally entitled 'Jesús Malverde and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace,' but I got superstitious." -- 2013-06-14 - Taft Ballroom - Cincinnati, OH
"This is a song that you may find cause to sing if you are the person whose job it is to torture a stranger to death in the northern deserts of Mexico." –– 2013-10-13 - People's Place - Amsterdam, Netherlands

Things Referenced in this Song[]

Culiacán is a city in northwest Mexico.

Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]

Videos of this Song[]

The Life of the World to Come

Track list: "1 Samuel 15:23" • "Psalms 40:2" • "Genesis 3:23" • "Philippians 3:20-21" • "Hebrews 11:40" • "Genesis 30:3" • "Romans 10:9 " • "1 John 4:16" • "Matthew 25:21" • "Deuteronomy 2:10" • "Isaiah 45:23" • "Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace"
Bonus tracks: "Enoch 18:14" • "Proverbs 6:27"
The Life of the World in Flux: "Daniel 12:8 (third)" • "Matthew 11:14-19"