Ezekiel 6:1-6

1 Then the Word of God came to me:
2 "Son of man, now turn and face the mountains of Israel and preach against them:
3 'O Mountains of Israel, listen to the Message of God, the Master. God, the Master, speaks to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and the valleys: I'm about to destroy your sacred god and goddess shrines.
4 I'll level your altars, bust up your sun-god pillars, and kill your people as they bow down to your no-god idols.
5 I'll stack the dead bodies of Israelites in front of your idols and then scatter your bones around your shrines.
6 Every place where you've lived, the towns will be torn down and the pagan shrines demolished - altars busted up, idols smashed, all your custom-made sun-god pillars in ruins.

Ezekiel 6:1-6 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.

Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.