Judgment Against Idolatry

The word of the Lord came to me: (A)“Son of man, (B)set your face toward (C)the mountains of Israel, and (D)prophesy against them, and say, (E)You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to (F)the mountains and (G)the hills, to (H)the ravines and the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, (I)and I will destroy your high places. (J)Your altars shall become desolate, and your (K)incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols. (L)And I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before their idols, (M)and I will scatter your bones around your altars. Wherever you dwell, (N)the cities shall be waste and (O)the high places ruined, so that your altars will be waste and ruined,[a] your idols broken and destroyed, your (P)incense altars cut down, and your works wiped out. And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

(Q)“Yet I will leave some of you alive. When you have among the nations (R)some who escape the sword, and when you are scattered through the countries, then those of you who escape (S)will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how (T)I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes (U)that go whoring after their idols. (V)And they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed, for all their abominations. 10 And they shall know that I am the Lord. (W)I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.”

11 Thus says the Lord God: (X)“Clap your hands (Y)and stamp your foot and say, Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, (Z)for they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. 12 (AA)He who is far off shall die of pestilence, and he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who is left and is preserved shall die of famine. (AB)Thus I will spend my fury upon them. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, (AC)when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, (AD)on every high hill, (AE)on all the mountaintops, (AF)under every green tree, and under (AG)every leafy oak, wherever (AH)they offered pleasing aroma to all their idols. 14 And (AI)I will stretch out my hand against them and (AJ)make the land desolate and waste, (AK)in all their dwelling places, from the wilderness to (AL)Riblah.[b] Then (AM)they will know that I am the Lord.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 6:6 Or and punished
  2. Ezekiel 6:14 Some Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts Diblah

Against the mountains of Israel

The Lord’s word came to me: Human one, face Israel’s mountains, and prophesy to them. Say:

Hear the Lord God’s word, mountains of Israel!
The Lord God proclaims to the mountains and hills,
    to the valleys and their deepest ravines:
I’m about to bring a sword against you
    and destroy your shrines.
Your altars will be destroyed,
    your incense altars broken.
    And I’ll make your slain fall in front of your idols.
I’ll throw the Israelites’ corpses in front of their idols,
    and I’ll scatter your bones all around your altars.
Wherever you live,
    cities will be in ruins, shrines made desolate,
    turned into utter ruin.
Your altars will be punished
    and then broken down.
Your idols will be demolished,
    your incense altars shattered,
    and all your works wiped out.
The slain will fall among you,
    and you will know that I am the Lord.

But I will spare a few.
    Some of you will escape the nations’ swords
    when you are scattered throughout the lands.
Your fugitives will remember me
    in the nations to which they’ve been banished,
    how I was crushed when their roving hearts turned away from me,
    and their roving eyes went after their idols.
They will loathe themselves
    for their treacherous acts and detestable practices,
10         and they will know that I am the Lord.
Not in vain have I threatened to bring this evil against them.

11 The Lord God proclaims: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, and cry “Horror” over all the detestable practices of the house of Israel. They will fall by the sword, famine, and plague. 12 Whoever is far off will die of plague, whoever is nearby will fall to the sword, and whoever finds refuge will die of famine. I’ll satisfy my wrath against them! 13 They will know that I am the Lord when their slain appear among their idols and around their altars, wherever they offered up pleasing aromas for all their idols, on every high hill and mountaintop, and under every lofty tree and leafy oak. 14 Wherever they live, I will direct my power against them. I will turn the land into a greater wasteland than the Riblah desert. Then they will know that I am the Lord.