1 And *the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

2 Son of man, set thy face towards the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them.

3 And say: *Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, and to the rocks, and the valleys: Behold, I will bring upon you the sword, and I will destroy your high places.

4 And I will throw down your altars, and your idols shall be broken in pieces: and I will cast down your slain before your idols.

5 And I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of Israel before your idols: and I will scatter your bones round about your altars,

6 In all your dwelling-places. The cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be thrown down, and destroyed, and your altars shall be abolished, and shall be broken in pieces; and your idols shall be no more, and your temples shall be destroyed, and your works shall be defaced.

7 And the slain shall fall in the midst of you; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

8 And I will leave in you some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when I shall have scattered you through the countries.

9 And they that are saved of you shall remember me amongst the nations to which they are carried captives: because I have broken their heart that was faithless, and revolted from me: and their eyes that went a fornicating after their idols: and they shall be displeased with themselves, because of the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.

10 And they shall know that I, the Lord, have not spoken in vain that I would do this evil to them.

11 Thus saith the Lord God: Strike with thy 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 He that is far off, shall die of the pestilence: and he that is near, shall fall by the sword: and he that remaineth, and is besieged, shall die by the famine: and I will accomplish my indignation upon them.

13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when your slain shall be amongst your idols, round about your altars, on every high hill, and on all the tops of mountains, and under every woody tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they burnt sweet-smelling frankincense to all their idols.

14 And I will stretch forth my hand upon them: and I will make the land desolate and abandoned from the desert of Deblatha, in all their dwelling-places: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

____________________

*

1: Year of the World 3410.

3: Ezechiel xxxvi. 2.