1 T he Word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2 “ Son of man, turn your face toward the mountains of Israel, and tell what is going to happen against them.

Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them,

3 S ay, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the Word of the Lord God! This is what the Lord God says to the mountains, the hills, the deep and wide valleys: “I Myself am going to bring a sword against you. And I will destroy your high places.

and thou shalt say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. Thus hath the Lord GOD said to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys: Behold, I, even I, bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places.

4 S o your altars will be laid waste. Your altars for special perfume will be broken. And I will kill your people in front of your false gods.

And your altars shall be desolate, and your images of the sun shall be destroyed, and I will cause your dead to fall before your idols.

5 I will lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their false gods, and spread your bones around your altars.

And I will lay the dead carcasses of the sons of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.

6 I n every place you live, cities will be laid waste and the high places will be destroyed. Your altars will be laid waste and destroyed. Your false gods will be broken and destroyed. Your altars for special perfume will come to an end.

In all your provinces the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate that your altars may be laid waste and condemned, and your idols shall be destroyed and shall cease, and your images of the sun shall be cut down, and your works shall be abolished.

7 Y our people will fall dead among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.

And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

8 “ But I will leave some of you alive. For some of you will get away from the sword when you are spread among the lands and nations.

¶ Yet I will leave a remnant that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the Gentiles when ye shall be scattered through the countries.

9 T hen those who get away will remember Me in the nations where they have been taken. They will remember how I have been hurt by their sinful hearts which turned away from Me, and by their sinful eyes which followed after their false gods. And they will hate themselves in their own eyes for the sins they have done, for all their sinful ways.

And those that escape of you shall remember me among the Gentiles where they shall be carried captives because I am broken because of your whorish heart, which has departed from me and because of your eyes, which went a whoring after your idols: and they shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.

10 T hen they will know that I am the Lord. I have not spoken with empty words that I would bring this trouble upon them.”’

And they shall know that I am the LORD and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them.

11 “ The Lord God says, ‘Clap your hands, and step hard with your feet, and say, “It is bad because of all the hated sins of the people of Israel! They will fall by the sword, hunger, and disease.

¶ Thus hath the Lord GOD said: Smite with thine hand and stamp with thy foot and say, Alas for all the abominations of the evils of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.

12 H e who is far away will die by disease. And he who is near will be killed by the sword. He who stays and is shut in by armies will die by hunger. This is how I will send My anger upon them.

He that is far off shall die of the pestilence, and he that is near shall fall by the sword, and he that remains and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my fury in them.

13 T hen you will know that I am the Lord, when their dead lie among their false gods around their altars. They will lie on every high hill, on all the mountain tops, under every green tree, and under every oak tree with many leaves. Their dead will be in all the places where they burned special perfume to all their false gods.

Then shall ye know that I am the LORD when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in 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 I will put out My hand against them in every place they live. I will make the land more of a waste than the desert toward Diblah. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”’”

So will I stretch out my hand upon them and make the land desolate, even more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations; and they shall know that I am the LORD.