1 Againe the worde of the Lorde came vnto me, saying,
2 Sonne of man, Set thy face towardes the mountaines of Israel, and prophecie against them,
3 And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to theHe speaks of all the places where the Israelites accustomed to commit their idolaters, threatening them with destruction.mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys; Behold, I, [even] I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places.
4 And your altars shall be desolate, and yourRead (2Ki_23:14).images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain [men] before your idols.
5 And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before theirIn contempt of their power and force, which will neither be able to deliver you or themselves.idols; and I will scatter your bones about your altars.
6 In all your dwelling places the cities shalbe desolate, and the hie places shalbe laide waste, so that your altars shalbe made waste and desolate, and your idoles shalbe broken, and cease, & your images of the sunne shalbe cut in pieces, & your workes shalbe abolished.
7 And the slaine shall fall in the middes of you, and ye shall knowe that I am the Lorde.
8 Yet will I leave a remnant,He shows that in all dangers God will preserve a few, which will be as the seed of his Church and call on his Name.that ye may have [some] that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries.
9 And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations to which they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their adulterous heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which play the harlot with their idols: and theyThey will be ashamed to see that their hope in idols was in vain, and so will repent.shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.
10 And they shall knowe that I am the Lord, and that I haue not saide in vaine, that I woulde doe this euill vnto them.
11 Thus saith the Lord GOD;By these signs he would that the prophet would signify the great destruction to come.Smite with thy hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.
12 He that is farre off, shal dye of the pestilence, and he that is neere, shal fall by the sword, and hee that remaineth and is besieged, shal dye by the famine: thus will I accomplish my wrath vpon them.
13 Then shallThat is, all nations when you will see my judgments.ye know that I [am] the LORD, when their slain [men] shall be among their idols all around their altars, upon every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they offered sweet savour to all their idols.
14 So will I stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate, even, more desolateWhich was in Syria and bordered on Israel, or from the wilderness which was south, to Diblath which was north: meaning the while country.than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations: and they shall know that I [am] the LORD.
