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 toward the mountains of Israel, and you shall 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.

and you shall say: O mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and hills and cliffs and valleys: Behold, I will lead over you the sword. And I will destroy your exalted 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 I will demolish your altars. And your graven images will be broken apart. And I will throw 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.

And I will lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel before the face of your idols. And I will 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.

In all of your habitations, the cities will be made desolate, and the exalted places will be torn down and scattered. And your altars will be broken and destroyed. And your idols will cease to exist. And your shrines will be crushed. And your works will be wiped away.

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 slain will fall in your midst. And you shall 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.

And I will leave among you those who will escape the sword among the Gentiles, when I will have dispersed you upon the earth.

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 liberated shall remember me among the nations to which they were led away as captives. For I have crushed their heart, which fornicated and withdrew from me, and their eyes, which fornicated after their idols. And they will be displeased with themselves over the evils that they have done by 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 shall know that I, the Lord, have not spoken in vain, that I would do this evil to 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.

Thus says the Lord God: “Strike with your hand, and stomp with your foot, and say: ‘Alas, to all the abominations of the evils of the house of Israel!’ For they will fall by the 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.

Whoever is far away will die of pestilence. But whoever is near will fall by the sword. And whoever remains and is besieged will die by famine. And I will fulfill my indignation among 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 shall know that I am the Lord, when your slain will be in the midst of your idols, all around your altars, on every exalted hill, and on the summits of all the mountains, and under every dense tree, and under every leafy oak: the places where they burned sweet-smelling 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].’”

And I will extend my hand over them. And I will make the earth desolate and destitute: from the desert of Riblah to all their dwelling places. And they shall know that I am the Lord.”