Add parallel Print Page Options

Prophecies Against Israel

Then the word of the Lord came to me again. He said, “Son of man,[a] turn toward the mountains of Israel and speak against them for me. Tell them this: ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to this message from the Lord God! This is what the Lord God says to the hills and mountains and to the ravines and valleys: Look! I am bringing the enemy to fight against you. I will destroy your high places. Your altars will be broken into pieces. Your incense altars will be smashed, and I will throw down your dead bodies in front of your filthy idols. I will put the dead bodies of the people of Israel in front of their filthy idols. I will scatter your bones around your altars. Bad things will happen wherever your people live. Their cities will become piles of rock. Their high places will be destroyed so that those places of worship will never be used again. The altars will all be destroyed. People will never worship those filthy idols again. The incense altars will be smashed. Everything you made will be destroyed completely. Your people will be killed, and then you will know that I am the Lord!’”

God said, “But I will let a few of your people escape. They will live in other countries for a short time. I will scatter them and force them to live in other countries. Then the survivors will be taken as prisoners. They will be forced to live in other countries, but they will remember me. I broke their spirit.[b] They will hate themselves for the evil things they did. In the past, they turned away from me and left me. They chased after their filthy idols. They were like a woman leaving her husband and running off with another man. They did many terrible things, 10 but they will learn that I am the Lord. Then they will know that if I say that I will do something, I will do it! They will know that I caused all the troubles that happened to them.”

11 Then the Lord God said to me, “Clap your hands and stamp your feet. Speak against all the terrible things that the people of Israel have done. Warn them that they will be killed by disease and hunger. Tell them they will be killed in war. 12 People far away will die from disease. People near this place will be killed with swords, and those who are left in the city will starve to death. Only then will I stop being angry. 13 Only then will you know that I am the Lord. You will know this when you see your dead bodies in front of your filthy idols and around their altars. Those bodies will be near every one of your places for worship,[c] on every high hill and mountain, under every green tree and every oak tree with leaves. You offered your sacrifices everywhere. They were a sweet smell for your filthy idols. 14 But I will raise my arm over you and punish you and your people, wherever they live! I will destroy your country! It will be completely empty from the desert in the south to Riblah[d] in the north. Then they will know that I am the Lord!”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 6:2 Son of man This was usually just a way of saying “a person” or “a human being.” Here, it is a way of addressing Ezekiel. Also in 7:2.
  2. Ezekiel 6:9 spirit Literally, “heart.”
  3. Ezekiel 6:13 places for worship Or “high places.” See “high place” in the Word List.
  4. Ezekiel 6:14 Riblah Most Hebrew copies have “Diblah.”

Doom for the Mountains of Israel

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face(A) against the mountains(B) of Israel; prophesy against them(C) and say: ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys:(D) I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.(E) Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars(F) will be smashed; and I will slay your people in front of your idols.(G) I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones(H) around your altars.(I) Wherever you live,(J) the towns will be laid waste and the high places(K) demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and devastated, your idols(L) smashed and ruined, your incense altars(M) broken down, and what you have made wiped out.(N) Your people will fall slain(O) among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.(P)

“‘But I will spare some, for some of you will escape(Q) the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations.(R) Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will remember(S) me—how I have been grieved(T) by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols.(U) They will loathe themselves for the evil(V) they have done and for all their detestable practices.(W) 10 And they will know that I am the Lord;(X) I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them.(Y)

11 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Strike your hands together and stamp your feet and cry out “Alas!” because of all the wicked and detestable practices of the people of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine and plague.(Z) 12 One who is far away will die of the plague, and one who is near will fall by the sword, and anyone who survives and is spared will die of famine. So will I pour out my wrath(AA) on them.(AB) 13 And they will know that I am the Lord, when their people lie slain among their idols(AC) around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every spreading tree and every leafy oak(AD)—places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols.(AE) 14 And I will stretch out my hand(AF) against them and make the land a desolate waste from the desert to Diblah[a]—wherever they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord.(AG)’”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 6:14 Most Hebrew manuscripts; a few Hebrew manuscripts Riblah