Ezekiel 6

1 Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

2 “You human, turn toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy [what will happen to] them, and say,

“Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them.

3 ‘You mountains and hills of Israel [APO], listen to what Yahweh the Lord says to you: “I am about to [enemy soldiers with] swords to come and destroy [the shrines on] your hilltops.

You are to say: ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD! This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.

4 They will smash all the [for worshiping idols] and the altars for burning incense. And they will [many Israeli] people in front of those idols.

Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will cast down your slain before your idols.

5 Their corpses will lie in front of their idols, and their bones will be scattered around their altars.

I will lay the corpses of the Israelites before their idols and scatter your bones around your altars.

6 Wherever the Israelis live, their towns will be ruined, and the shrines where they worship idols will be smashed. Their altars will be completely smashed [DOU], their idols will be completely smashed [DOU], and everything that they own will become a pile of ruins.

Wherever you live, the cities will be laid waste and the high places will be demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and desecrated, your idols smashed and obliterated, your incense altars cut down, and your works blotted out.

7 Many of their people will be killed; and then they will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do the things that I say that I will do].

The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.

8 But I will allow some of the Israelis to remain alive. They will escape being killed when their enemies scatter them among many other nations.

Yet I will leave a remnant, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the nations and throughout the lands.

9 When that happens, in those nations to which they have been forced to go, those who have escaped from being killed will think about me. They will remember that I was very grieved because of their turning away from me [IDM] with their inner beings, and because they very much desired [IDM] to worship their idols. They will (hate/be very displeased with) themselves because of the evil and detestable things that they have done.

Then in the nations to which they have been carried captive, your survivors will remember Me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts that turned away from Me, and by their eyes that lusted after idols. So they will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their abominations.

10 [they will realize that] I, Yahweh, [have punished them. They will realize that] when I threatened to punish them, I surely intended [LIT] to do that.

And they will know that I am the LORD; I did not declare in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.

11 So this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, [to you, Ezekiel]: ‘Wring your hands and stamp your feet and cry [to show that you are distressed], and [about what will happen to] your Israeli people [MTY] because of all their wicked and detestable behavior. They will be killed [their enemies’] swords, they will die from hunger, and they will die from plagues.

This is what the Lord GOD says: Clap your hands, stomp your feet, and cry out “Alas!” because of all the wicked abominations of the house of Israel, who will fall by sword and famine and plague.

12 Those who are far [from Jerusalem] will die from plagues, those who are close [to Jerusalem] will be killed by [their enemies’] swords, and those who are still alive will die from hunger. That is how I will punish [MTY] them.

He who is far off will die by the plague, he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains will die by famine. So I will vent My fury upon them.

13 [Some of] your people’s corpses will lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hilltop and on all the mountaintops, under every big tree [DOU]—at all the places where they burned incense [honor] their idols. Then they will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].

Then you will know that I am the LORD, when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, and under every green tree and leafy oak—the places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols.

14 And I will stretch out my arm and cause your entire country to become an empty wasteland, from the [in the far south] to [town in the far north]. Then they will realize that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do the things that I say that I will do].’”

I will stretch out My hand against them, and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Diblah. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”