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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”

Judgment against Israel’s Mountains

Again a message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, turn and face the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. Proclaim this message from the Sovereign Lord against the mountains of Israel. This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills and to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring war upon you, and I will smash your pagan shrines. All your altars will be demolished, and your places of worship will be destroyed. I will kill your people in front of your idols.[a] I will lay your corpses in front of your idols and scatter your bones around your altars. Wherever you live there will be desolation, and I will destroy your pagan shrines. Your altars will be demolished, your idols will be smashed, your places of worship will be torn down, and all the religious objects you have made will be destroyed. The place will be littered with corpses, and you will know that I alone am the Lord.

“But I will let a few of my people escape destruction, and they will be scattered among the nations of the world. Then when they are exiled among the nations, they will remember me. They will recognize how hurt I am by their unfaithful hearts and lustful eyes that long for their idols. Then at last they will hate themselves for all their detestable sins. 10 They will know that I alone am the Lord and that I was serious when I said I would bring this calamity on them.

11 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Clap your hands in horror, and stamp your feet. Cry out because of all the detestable sins the people of Israel have committed. Now they are going to die from war and famine and disease. 12 Disease will strike down those who are far away in exile. War will destroy those who are nearby. And anyone who survives will be killed by famine. So at last I will spend my fury on them. 13 They will know that I am the Lord when their dead lie scattered among their idols and altars on every hill and mountain and under every green tree and every great shade tree—the places where they offered sacrifices to their idols. 14 I will crush them and make their cities desolate from the wilderness in the south to Riblah[b] in the north. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

Footnotes

  1. 6:4 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung; also in 6:5, 6, 9, 13.
  2. 6:14 As in some Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts read Diblah.