Ezekiel 6:1–38:23

Doom for the Mountains of Israel

6The word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, set your face^m against the mountainsⁿ of Israel; prophesy against them^{o 3}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:^p I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.^{q 4}Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars^r will be smashed; and I will slay your people in front of your idols.^{s 5}I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones^t around your altars.^{u 6}Wherever you live,^v the towns will be laid waste and the high places^w demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and devastated, your idols^x smashed and ruined, your incense altars^y broken down, and what you have made wiped out.^{z 7}Your people will fall slain^a among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.^b

⁸“ ‘But I will spare some, for some of you will escape^c the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations.^{d 9}Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will remember^e me—how I have been grieved^f by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols.^g They will loathe themselves for the evil^h they have done and for all their detestable practices.^{i 10}And they will know that I am the Lord;^j I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them.^k

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.^{l 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^m on them.^{n 13}And they will know that I am the Lord, when their people lie slain among their idols^o around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every spreading tree and every leafy oak^p—places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols.^{q 14}And I will stretch out my hand^r 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.^s’ ”

The End Has Come

7The word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel:

“ ‘The end!^t The end has come

upon the four corners^u of the land!

³The end is now upon you,

and I will unleash my anger against you.

I will judge you according to your conduct^v

and repay you for all your detestable practices.^w

⁴I will not look on you with pity;^x

I will not spare you.

I will surely repay you for your conduct

and for the detestable practices among you.

“ ‘Then you will know that I am the Lord.’^y

⁵“This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“ ‘Disaster!^z Unheard-of^a disaster!

See, it comes!

⁶The end^a has come!

The end has come!

It has roused itself against you.

See, it comes!

⁷Doom has come upon you,

upon you who dwell in the land.

The time has come! The day^b is near!^c

There is panic, not joy, on the mountains.

⁸I am about to pour out my wrath^d on you

and spend my anger against you.

I will judge you according to your conduct

and repay you for all your detestable practices.^e

⁹I will not look on you with pity;

I will not spare you.^f

I will repay you for your conduct

and for the detestable practices among you.^g

“ ‘Then you will know that it is I the Lord who strikes you.^h

¹⁰“ ‘See, the day!

See, it comes!

Doom has burst forth,

the rodⁱ has budded,

arrogance has blossomed!

¹¹Violence^j has arisen,^b

a rod to punish the wicked.

None of the people will be left,

none of that crowd—

none of their wealth,

nothing of value.^k

¹²The time has come!

The day has arrived!

Let not the buyer^l rejoice

nor the seller grieve,

for my wrath is on the whole crowd.^m

¹³The seller will not recover

the property that was sold—

as long as both buyer and seller live.

For the vision concerning the whole crowd

will not be reversed.

Because of their sins, not one of them

will preserve their life.ⁿ

¹⁴“ ‘They have blown the trumpet,^o

they have made all things ready,

but no one will go into battle,

for my wrath^p is on the whole crowd.

¹⁵Outside is the sword;

inside are plague and famine.

Those in the country

will die by the sword;

those in the city

will be devoured by famine and plague.^q

¹⁶The fugitives^r who escape

will flee to the mountains.

Like doves^s of the valleys,

they will all moan,

each for their own sins.^t

¹⁷Every hand will go limp;^u

every leg will be wet with urine.^v

¹⁸They will put on sackcloth^w

and be clothed with terror.^x

Every face will be covered with shame,

and every head will be shaved.^y

¹⁹“ ‘They will throw their silver into the streets,^z

and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean.

Their silver and gold

will not be able to deliver them

in the day of the Lord’s wrath.^a

It will not satisfy^b their hunger

or fill their stomachs,

for it has caused them to stumble^c into sin.^d

²⁰They took pride in their beautiful jewelry

and used it to make^e their detestable idols.

They made it into vile images;^f

therefore I will make it a thing unclean for them.^g

²¹I will give their wealth as plunder^h to foreigners

and as loot to the wicked of the earth,

who will defile it.ⁱ

²²I will turn my face^j away from the people,

and robbers will desecrate the place I treasure.

They will enter it

and will defile it.^k

²³“ ‘Prepare chains!

For the land is full of bloodshed,^l

and the city is full of violence.^m

²⁴I will bring the most wicked of nations

to take possession of their houses.

I will put an end to the pride of the mighty,

and their sanctuariesⁿ will be desecrated.^o

²⁵When terror comes,

they will seek peace in vain.^p

²⁶Calamity upon calamity^q will come,

and rumor upon rumor.

They will go searching for a vision from the prophet,^r

priestly instruction in the law will cease,

the counsel of the elders will come to an end.^s

²⁷The king will mourn,

the prince will be clothed with despair,^t

and the hands of the people of the land will tremble.

I will deal with them according to their conduct,^u

and by their own standards I will judge them.

“ ‘Then they will know that I am the Lord.^v’ ”

Idolatry in the Temple

8In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day, while I was sitting in my house and the elders^w of Judah were sitting before^x me, the hand of the Sovereign Lord came on me there.^{y 2}I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man.^a From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal.^{z 3}He stretched out what looked like a hand^a and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up^b between earth and heaven and in visions^c of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court,^d where the idol that provokes to jealousy^e stood. ⁴And there before me was the glory^f of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain.^g

⁵Then he said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” So I looked, and in the entrance north of the gate of the altar I saw this idol^h of jealousy.

⁶And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestableⁱ things the Israelites are doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary?^j But you will see things that are even more detestable.”

⁷Then he brought me to the entrance to the court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall. ⁸He said to me, “Son of man, now dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and saw a doorway there.

⁹And he said to me, “Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here.” ¹⁰So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls^k all kinds of crawling things and unclean^l animals and all the idols of Israel.^{m 11}In front of them stood seventy eldersⁿ of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them. Each had a censer^o in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense^p was rising.^q

¹²He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness,^r each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘The Lord does not see^s us; the Lord has forsaken the land.’ ” ¹³Again, he said, “You will see them doing things that are even more detestable.”

¹⁴Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and I saw women sitting there, mourning the god Tammuz.^{t 15}He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see things that are even more detestable than this.”

¹⁶He then brought me into the inner court^u of the house of the Lord, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar,^v were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun^w in the east.^x

¹⁷He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things^y they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence^z and continually arouse my anger?^a Look at them putting the branch to their nose! ¹⁸Therefore I will deal with them in anger;^b I will not look on them with pity^c or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen^d to them.”

Judgment on the Idolaters

9Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, “Bring near those who are appointed to execute judgment on the city, each with a weapon in his hand.” ²And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen^e who had a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.

³Now the glory^f of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim,^g where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the Lord called to the man…