Ezekiel 6

Judgment on Idolatrous Israel

1 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying:2 Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them,3 and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, to the hills, to the ravines, and to the valleys: Indeed I, even I, will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.4 Then your altars shall be desolate, your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols.5 And I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones all around your altars.6 In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, your idols may be broken and made to cease, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished.7 The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord.8 Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered through the countries.9 Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations.10 And they shall know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.11 Thus says the Lord God: Pound your fists and stamp your feet, and say, Alas, for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! For they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.12 He who is far off shall die by the pestilence, he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine. Thus will I spend My fury upon them.13 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when their slain are among their idols all around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every thick oak, wherever they offered sweet incense to all their idols.14 So I will stretch out My hand against them and make the land desolate, yes, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblah, in all their dwelling places. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.

EZEKIEL 6

Israel Is Doomed

1 The [Lord] God said:

2 Ezekiel, son of man, face the hills of Israel and tell them:
3 Listen, you mountains and hills, and every valley and gorge! I, the [Lord], am about to turn against you and crush all the places where foreign gods are worshiped. 4 Every altar will be smashed, and in front of the idols I will put to death the people who worship them. 5 Dead bodies and bones will be lying around the idols and the altars. 6 Every town in Israel will be destroyed to make sure that each shrine, idol, and altar is smashed—everything the Israelites made will be a pile of ruins.t 7 All over the country, your people will die. And those who survive will know that I, the [Lord], did these things. 8 I will let some of the people live through this punishment, but I will scatter them among the nations, 9 where they will be prisoners. And when they think of me, they will realize that they disgraced me by rebelling and by worshiping idols. They will hate themselves for the evil things they did,

10 and they will know that I am the [Lord] and that my warnings must be taken seriously.

11 The [Lord] God then said:
Ezekiel, beat your fists together and stomp your feet in despair! Moan in sorrow, because the people of Israel have done disgusting things and now will be killed by enemy troops, or they will die from starvation and disease. 12 Those who live far away will be struck with deadly diseases. Those who live nearby will be killed in war. And the ones who are left will starve to death. I will let loose my anger on them! 13 These people used to offer incense to idols at altars built on hills and mountaintops and in the shade of large oak trees. But when they see dead bodies lying around those altars, they will know that I am the [Lord]. 14 I will make their country a barren wasteland, from the Southern Desert to the town of Diblah in the north. Then they will know that I, the [Lord], have done these things.