Ezekiel 6
Expanded Bible
Prophecies Against the Mountains
6 Again the ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to me, saying: 2 “·Human [T Son of man; 2:1], ·look [L set your face] toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them. 3 Say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord God. The Lord God says this to the mountains, the hills, the ravines, and the valleys: [L Look; T Behold] I ·will [or am about to] bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your ·places of idol worship [L high places; C pagan worship sites; Deut. 12; 2 Kin. 23:8]. 4 Your altars will be ·destroyed [desolated] and your incense altars ·broken down [smashed]. ·Your people will be killed [L I will throw down your slain] in front of your idols. 5 I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6 In all the places you live, cities will become ·empty [desolate; laid waste]. The ·places of idol worship [L high places; 6:3] will be ruined; your altars will become ·lonely [wasted] ruins. Your idols will be ·broken [smashed] and ·brought to an end [ruined]. Your incense altars will be cut down, and ·the things you made [your works; or the idols/religious objects you have made] will be wiped out. 7 ·Your people will be killed and [L The slain will] fall among you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
8 “‘But I will leave some people alive; some will ·not be killed by the nations [L escape the sword] when you are scattered among the foreign lands. 9 Then those who have escaped will remember me, as they live among the nations where they have been taken as captives. They will remember how I was ·hurt [grieved; crushed] ·because they were unfaithful to me [L by their adulterous heart] and turned away from me and ·desired to worship [by their eyes that have prostituted themselves with] their idols. They will ·hate [loathe] themselves because of ·the evil things they did that I hate [their abominations/detestable practices]. 10 Then they will know that I am the Lord. I did not ·bring this terrible thing on them for no reason [or threaten in vain this catastrophe against them].
11 “‘This is what the Lord God says: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, and ·groan [L say, “Ah!”] because of all the ·hateful, evil things [evil and detestable practices] the ·people [L house] of Israel have done. They will ·die by war [L fall by the sword], ·hunger [famine], and ·disease [plague; pestilence; Lev. 26:25–26]. 12 The person who is far away will die by ·disease [plague; pestilence]. The one who is nearby will ·die in war [fall by the sword]. The person who ·is still alive [L remains and is spared] and has escaped these will die from ·hunger [famine]. So I will ·carry out [spend; exhaust] my ·anger [wrath; fury] on them. 13 Their people will lie dead among their idols around the altars, on every high hill, on all the mountain tops, and under every green tree and leafy oak—all the places where they offered ·sweet-smelling [fragrant; or pleasing] incense to their idols. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 14 I will ·use my power [L stretch out my hand] against them to make the land ·empty [desolate] and wasted from the ·desert [wilderness] to ·Diblah,[a] wherever they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 6:14 Diblah Hebrew copies read “Diblah,” an unknown place. The Latin Vulgate reads “Riblah,” a city north of Damascus
Ezekiel 6
New American Standard Bible
Idolatrous Worship Denounced
6 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward the (A)mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them 3 and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord [a]God! This is what the Lord [b]God says to the mountains, the hills, the ravines, and the valleys: “Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword against you, and (B)I will destroy your high places. 4 So your (C)altars will become deserted and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will make your slain fall in front of your idols. 5 I will also lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols; and I will scatter your (D)bones around your altars. 6 [c]Everywhere you live, (E)cities will be in ruins and the high places will be deserted, so that your altars will be in ruins and [d]deserted, your (F)idols will be broken and brought to an end, your incense altars will be cut down, and your works wiped out. 7 The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.
8 “However, I will leave a (G)remnant, in that you will have those who (H)escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries. 9 Then those of you who escape will (I)remember Me among the nations to which they will be taken captive, how I have [e](J)been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which committed infidelity with their idols; and they will (K)loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations. 10 Then they will know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would inflict this disaster on them.”’
11 “This is what the Lord [f]God says: ‘Clap your hands, (L)stamp your foot and say, “(M)Woe, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, which will fall by the (N)sword, famine, and plague! 12 Anyone who is (O)far away will die by the plague, anyone who is near will fall by the sword, and anyone who remains and is spared from these will die by the famine. So I will (P)expend My wrath on them. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when their (Q)dead are among their idols around their altars, on (R)every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every leafy tree and under every massive oak with thick branches—the places where they offered a soothing aroma to all their idols. 14 So through all their dwelling places I will (S)stretch out My hand against them and make the land more desolate and waste than the wilderness toward Diblah; so they will know that I am the Lord.”’”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 6:3 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Ezekiel 6:3 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Ezekiel 6:6 Lit In all your dwellings
- Ezekiel 6:6 As in some ancient versions; MT suffer for their guilt
- Ezekiel 6:9 Lit been broken; another reading is broken their (but unlikely)
- Ezekiel 6:11 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
