< Ezekiel 6 >
1 Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
And there is a word of YHWH 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 toward mountains of Israel, and prophesy concerning 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.
And you have said, Mountains of Israel, Hear a word of Lord YHWH! Thus said Lord YHWH, To the mountains, and to the hills, To the streams, and to the valleys: Behold, I am bringing in a sword against you, And I have destroyed 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.
And your altars have been desolated, And your images have been broken, And I have caused your wounded to fall before your idols,
5 Their corpses will lie in front of their idols, and their bones will be scattered around their altars.
And I have put the carcasses of the sons of Israel before their idols, And I have scattered 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.
In all your dwellings the cities are laid waste, And the high places are desolate, So that your altars are dry and desolate, Your idols have broken and ceased, And your images have been cut down, And your works have been 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].
And the wounded has fallen in your midst, And you have known that I [am] YHWH.
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.
And I have caused [some] to remain, In their being for you the escaped of the sword among nations, In your being scattered through 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.
And your escaped have remembered Me among nations, To where they have been taken captive, Because I have been broken with their heart that is going whoring, That has turned aside from off Me, And with their eyes they are going whoring after their idols, And they have been loathsome in their own faces, For the evils that they have done—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 have known that I [am] YHWH, I have not spoken to do this evil to them for nothing.
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.
Thus said Lord YHWH: Strike with your palm, and stamp with your foot, And say: Aah! For all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, Which falls by sword, by famine, and by pestilence.
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.
The far-off dies by pestilence, And the near falls by sword, And the left and the besieged dies by famine, And I have completed My fury on 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].
And you have known that I [am] YHWH, In their wounded being in the midst of their idols, Around their altars, On every high hill, on all tops of mountains, And under every green tree, and under every thick oak, The place where they gave refreshing fragrance 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].’”
And I have stretched out My hand against them, And have made the land a desolation, Even a desolation from the wilderness to Diblath, In all their dwellings, And they have known that I [am] YHWH!”