Judgment against Idolatry
(Deuteronomy 4:15–31; Deuteronomy 12:29–32)

1And the word of YHWH came to me, saying: 2“Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them,

3and say: ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord YHWH! Thus says the Lord YHWH to the mountains, and to the hills, to the ravines, and to the valleys: Behold, I—I am bringing against you⁺ a sword, and I will destroy your⁺ high places. 4And your⁺ altars will be desolate, and your⁺ incense altars will be broken; and your⁺ slain I will cast down before your⁺ idols. 5And I will lay the corpses of the sons of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your⁺ bones all around your⁺ altars.

6In all your⁺ dwelling places the cities will be laid waste, and the high places will be made desolate, so that your⁺ altars may be destroyed and made desolate, and your⁺ idols may be broken and made to cease, and your⁺ incense altars may be cut down, and your⁺ works may be blotted out! 7And the slain will fall in your⁺ midst, and you⁺ will know that I am YHWH.

A Remnant to Be Blessed

8And I will leave a remnant, in their being unto you⁺ escapees of the sword among the nations, in your⁺ being scattered in the lands.

9And your⁺ escapees will remember Me in the nations to which they are carried captive there, how I was broken by their prostituting heart that turned away from Me, and by their eyes seeking prostitution after their idols; and they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they did by all their abominations. 10And they will know that I am YHWH. Not in vain have I spoken that I would bring upon them this evil!

11Thus says the Lord YHWH: Strike with your hand, and stomp with your foot, and say, “Ah!” For all the evils of the abominations of the house of Israel! For by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence they will fall! 12The one far off will die by the pestilence, and the one near will fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged will die by the famine. And I will complete My fury upon them.

13And you⁺ will know that I am YHWH, in the coming of their slain into the midst of their idols, all around their altars, at every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak—each place that they gave there a pleasing aroma to all their idols. 14And I will stretch out My hand against them, and I will make the land a desolation and a wasteland, from the wilderness to Diblah,† in all their dwelling places. And they will know that I am YHWH!’”