- And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them, and say, You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God; thus says the Lord God to the 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. And your altars shall be desolate and your images shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. And I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. In all your dwelling places, the cities shall be laid waste and the high places shall be desolate, that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished; and the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
- Yet will I leave a remnant, that you may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations when you shall be scattered through the countries. 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 whorish heart which has departed from me, and with their eyes which go whoring after their idols; and they shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations. 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.
- Thus says the Lord God: Smite with your hand and stamp with your 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. 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 upon them. Then shall you 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 did offer sweet savor to all their idols. So will I stretch out my hand upon them and make the land desolate, yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
- Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Also, you son of man, thus says the Lord God unto the land of Israel: An end, the end has come upon the four corners of the land. Now has the end come upon you, and I will send my anger upon you, and will judge you according to your ways, and will recompense upon you all your abominations. And my eye shall not spare you, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense your ways upon you, and your abominations shall be in your midst; and you shall know that I am the Lord.
- Thus says the Lord God: An evil, an only evil, behold, has come. An end has come, the end has come, it watches for you; behold, it has come. The morning has come unto you, O you that dwell in the land. The time has come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains. Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon you and accomplish my anger upon you, and I will judge you according to your ways and will recompense you for all your abominations. And my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity. I will recompense you according to your ways and your abominations that are in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord that smites. Behold the day, behold, it has come. The morning is gone forth, the rod has blossomed, pride has budded. Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness, none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs; neither shall there be wailing for them. The time has come, the day draws near. Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn, for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof; for the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive. For the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof which shall not return, neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.
- They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready, but none goes to the battle, for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within. He that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him. But they that escape of them shall escape and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, everyone for his iniquity. All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them, and shame shall be upon all faces and baldness upon all their heads. They shall cast their silver in the streets and their gold shall be removed. Their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels, because it is the stumbling block of their iniquity.
- As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty, but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein; therefore, I have set it far from them. And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil, and they shall pollute it. My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place, for the robbers shall enter into it and defile it. Make a chain, for the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence. Wherefore, I will bring the worst of the heathen and they shall possess their houses. I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease, and their holy places shall be defiled. Destruction comes and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor.
- Then shall they seek a vision of the prophet, but the law shall perish from the priest and counsel from the elders. The king shall mourn and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled. I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Chapter 2