Ezekiel 6:1-11

Idolatrous Worship Denounced

1 And the word of the LORD came to me saying,
2 "Son of man, set your face toward the 1mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them
3 and say, 'Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains, the hills, the ravines and the valleys: "Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword on you, and 2I will destroy your high places.
4 "So your 3altars will become desolate and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will make your slain fall in front of your idols.
5 "I will also lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols; and I will scatter your 4bones around your altars.
6 "In all your dwellings, 5cities will become waste and the high places will be desolate, that your altars may become waste and desolate, your 6idols may be broken and brought to an end, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be blotted out.
7 "The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.
8 "However, I will leave a 7remnant, for you will have those who 8escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries.
9 "Then those of you who escape will 9remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have 10been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will 11loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations.
10 "Then they will know that I am the LORD; I have not said in vain that I would inflict this disaster on them."'
11 "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Clap your hand, 12stamp your foot and say, "13Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, which will fall by 14sword, famine and 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.

Cross References 14

  • 1. Ezekiel 36:1
  • 2. Leviticus 26:30
  • 3. Leviticus 26:30; 2 Chronicles 14:5; Isaiah 27:9; Ezekiel 6:6
  • 4. 2 Kin 23:14, 16, 20; Jeremiah 8:1, 2
  • 5. Leviticus 26:31; Isaiah 6:11; Ezekiel 5:14
  • 6. Ezekiel 6:4; Micah 1:7; Zechariah 13:2
  • 7. Isaiah 6:13; Jeremiah 30:11
  • 8. Jeremiah 44:14, 28; Ezekiel 7:16; Ezekiel 14:22
  • 9. Deuteronomy 4:29; Deuteronomy 30:2; Jeremiah 51:50
  • 10. Psalms 78:40; Isaiah 7:13; Isaiah 43:24; Hosea 11:8
  • 11. Job 42:6; Ezekiel 20:43; Ezekiel 36:31
  • 12. Ezekiel 25:6
  • 13. Ezekiel 9:4
  • 14. Ezekiel 5:12; Ezekiel 7:15

Footnotes 6

  • [a]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD
  • [b]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD
  • [c]. So some ancient versions; Heb "bear their guilt"
  • [d]. Lit "been broken," or, "broken for Myself their"
  • [e]. Lit "to do this evil to"
  • [f]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD
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