Ezekiel 6:9-14

9 "Then those of you who escape will 1remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have 2been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will 3loathe 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, 4stamp your foot and say, "5Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, which will fall by 6sword, famine and plague!
12 "He who is 7far off will die by the plague, and he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged will die by the famine. Thus will I 8spend My wrath on them.
13 "Then you will know that I am the LORD, when their 9slain are among their idols around their altars, on 10every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every green tree and under every leafy oak -the places where * they offered soothing aroma to all their idols.
14 "So throughout all their habitations I will 11stretch out My hand against them and make the land more desolate and waste than the wilderness toward Diblah; thus they will know that I am the LORD.""'

Ezekiel 6:9-14 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 11

  • 1. Deuteronomy 4:29; Deuteronomy 30:2; Jeremiah 51:50
  • 2. Psalms 78:40; Isaiah 7:13; Isaiah 43:24; Hosea 11:8
  • 3. Job 42:6; Ezekiel 20:43; Ezekiel 36:31
  • 4. Ezekiel 25:6
  • 5. Ezekiel 9:4
  • 6. Ezekiel 5:12; Ezekiel 7:15
  • 7. Daniel 9:7
  • 8. Lamentations 4:11, 22; Ezekiel 5:13
  • 9. Ezekiel 6:4-7
  • 10. 1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 16:4; Isaiah 57:5-7; Ezekiel 20:28; Hosea 4:13
  • 11. Isaiah 5:25; Isaiah 9:12; Ezekiel 14:13; Ezekiel 20:33, 34

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Lit "been broken," or, "broken for Myself their"
  • [b]. Lit "to do this evil to"
  • [c]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD
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