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Idolatrous Worship and Idolatrous Objects Denounced

And the word of Yahweh came[a] to me, saying, “Son of man,[b] set your face to the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them, and you must say, ‘Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh, thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys: “Look, I am bringing upon you the sword, and I will destroy your high places, and your altars will be desolate, and your incense altars will be broken, and I will throw down your slain ones before[c] your idols, and I will place[d] the corpses of the children of Israel before[e] their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. In all of your dwellings, the cities will be desolate and the high places will be ruined, so that your altars will be desolate and will suffer punishment. Your idols will be broken and will come to an end, and your incense altars will be cut down, and your works will be destroyed, and the slain one will fall in the midst of you, and then you will know that I am Yahweh. But[f] I will spare some, so there will be[g] for you fugitives from the sword among the nations when you are scattered[h] in the countries. And your fugitives will remember me among the nations to which they were taken captive, that I was shattered by their adulterous heart[i] which departed from me, and by their adulterous eyes[j] which went after their idols, and they will feel loathing for themselves,[k] for the evil that they did, for all of their detestable things. 10 And they will know that I am Yahweh; not in vain[l] I spoke to bring to them this evil.”’ 11 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Clap your hand and stamp with your foot, and say, “Alas, for all of the detestable things of the evil of the house of Israel, because of which[m] they will fall with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague. 12 The one who is far away will die by the plague, and the one who is near will fall by the sword, and the one who is being left behind and being spared will die by the famine, and I will complete my rage on[n] them. 13 And you will know that I am Yahweh when their slain ones are in the midst of their idols[o] around their altars at every high hill, on the tops of all the mountains and under every green tree and under every leafy oak—the place at which they gave a pleasing scent for all of their idols. 14 And I will stretch out my hand against them, and I will make the land a desolation and a wasteland from the desert to Riblah in all of their dwellings, and they will know that I am Yahweh.”’”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 6:1 Literally “was”
  2. Ezekiel 6:2 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  3. Ezekiel 6:4 Literally “to the face of”
  4. Ezekiel 6:5 Or “give”
  5. Ezekiel 6:5 Literally “to the face of”
  6. Ezekiel 6:8 Or “And”
  7. Ezekiel 6:8 Literally “at their being”
  8. Ezekiel 6:8 Literally “at you to be scattered”
  9. Ezekiel 6:9 Literally “heart their which was prostituting itself
  10. Ezekiel 6:9 Literally “eyes their which were prostituting”
  11. Ezekiel 6:9 Literally “for their face”
  12. Ezekiel 6:10 Literally “to nothing”
  13. Ezekiel 6:11 Literally “which”
  14. Ezekiel 6:12 Or “toward”
  15. Ezekiel 6:13 Literally “in the being of their slain ones in the midst of their idols”

Prophecy against Israel’s Idolatry

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, turn your face toward the mountains of Israel(A) and prophesy against them. You are to say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! This is what the Lord God says to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.(B) Your altars will be desolated and your incense altars smashed. I will throw down your slain in front of your idols. I will lay the corpses of the Israelites in front of their idols and scatter your bones around your altars. Wherever you live the cities will be in ruins and the high places will be desolate, so that your altars will lie in ruins and be desecrated,[a] your idols smashed and obliterated, your incense altars cut down, and your works wiped out. The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am Yahweh.

“Yet I will leave a remnant when you are scattered among the nations, for throughout the countries there will be some of you who will escape the sword.(C) Then your survivors will remember Me among the nations where they are taken captive,(D) how I was crushed by their promiscuous hearts that turned away from Me and by their eyes that lusted after their idols.(E) They will loathe themselves because of the evil things they did,(F) their detestable practices of every kind. 10 And they will know that I am the Lord; I did not threaten to bring this disaster on them without a reason.

Lament over the Fall of Jerusalem

11 “This is what the Lord God says: Clap your hands, stamp your feet,(G) and cry out over all the evil and detestable practices of the house of Israel, who will fall by the sword, famine, and plague.(H) 12 The one who is far off will die by plague; the one who is near will fall by the sword; and the one who remains and is spared[b] will die of famine. In this way I will exhaust My wrath on them.(I) 13 You will all know that I am Yahweh when their slain lie among their idols around their altars,(J) on every high hill,(K) on all the mountaintops, and under every green tree and every leafy oak—the places where they offered pleasing aromas to all their idols. 14 I will stretch out My hand against them,(L) and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Diblah.[c] Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 6:6 Hb obscure
  2. Ezekiel 6:12 Or besieged
  3. Ezekiel 6:14 Some Hb mss, some LXX mss read Riblah; 2Kg 23:33; Jr 39:5