Ezekiel 6:1-11

Idolatrous Worship and Idolatrous Objects Denounced

1 And the word of Yahweh {came} to me, saying,
2 "Son of man, set your face to the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them,
3 and you must say, 'Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh, thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys: "Look, I [am] bringing upon you [the] sword, and I will destroy your high places,
4 and your altars will be desolate, and your incense altars will be broken, and I will throw down your slain ones {before} your idols,
5 and I will place the corpses of the children of Israel {before} their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars.
6 In all of your dwellings, the cities will be desolate and the high places will be ruined, so that your altars will be desolate and will suffer punishment. Your idols will be broken and will come to an end, and your incense altars will be cut down, and your works will be destroyed,
7 and the slain one will fall in the midst of you, and [then] you will know that I [am] Yahweh.
8 But I will spare [some], {so there will be} for you fugitives from [the] sword among the nations {when you are scattered} in the countries.
9 And your fugitives will remember me among the nations [to] which they were taken captive, that I was shattered by {their adulterous heart} which departed from me, and by {their adulterous eyes} which [went] after their idols, and they will feel loathing {for themselves}, for the evil that they did, for all of their detestable things.
10 And they will know that I [am] Yahweh; not {in vain} I spoke to bring to them this evil." '
11 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Clap your hand and stamp with your foot, and say, "Alas, for all of the detestable things of the evil of the house of Israel, {because of which} they will fall with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague.

Ezekiel 6:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 6

This chapter contains a prophecy of the desolation of the whole land of Israel, and a promise that a remnant should escape, with a lamentation for the sad destruction, signified by some gestures of the prophet. The order to the prophet to deliver out the prophecy is in Eze 6:1,2; the several parts of the land of Israel or Judea, to which the prophecy is directed, are signified by mountains, hills, rivers, and valleys, on which the sword should be brought, Eze 6:3; the desolation is described, and the cause of it suggested, the idolatry of the people, Eze 6:4-7; the promise of a remnant that should escape, who should remember the Lord, loath themselves for their sins, acknowledge him, and that his word was not in vain, is in Eze 6:8-10; the lamentation, signified by the prophet's smiting with his hand, and stamping with his foot, for the sins of the people, and the judgments that should come upon them, is in Eze 6:11; a particular enumeration of these judgments follows, and of the places where they should be executed, Eze 6:12; the end of them was to bring them to the knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord, against whom they had sinned and offended by their idolatry, as the places where their slain fell would show, Eze 6:13; and the chapter is concluded with a resolution to bring this desolation on them, Eze 6:14.

Footnotes 13

  • [a]. Literally "was"
  • [b]. Or "mortal," or "son of humankind"
  • [c]. Literally "to the face of"
  • [d]. Or "give"
  • [e]. Literally "to the face of"
  • [f]. Or "And"
  • [g]. Literally "at their being"
  • [h]. Literally "at you to be scattered"
  • [i]. Literally "heart their which [was] prostituting [itself]"
  • [j]. Literally "eyes their which [were] prostituting"
  • [k]. Literally "for their face"
  • [l]. Literally "to nothing"
  • [m]. Literally "which"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.