1 And the word of the LORD {YHWH, Message Giver} came to me, saying {lemor: introducing prophetic declaration}.
2 Son of man {ben-adam: human representative}, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy {hin-nave: proclaim divine warning} against them.
3 And you shall say, “O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD {Adonai YHWH, Supreme Judge}: Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains, hills, ravines, and valleys: Behold, I, even I, am bringing a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places {bamot: cultic shrine}.”
4 Your altars will be desolate, and your incense-altars will be broken, and I {YHWH, Judge of Idolatry} will cast down your slain ones before your idols {gilulim: detestable images}.
5 I {YHWH, Divine Judge} will place the corpses of the sons of Israel before their idols {gilulim: detestable images}, and I will scatter your bones around your altars.
6 In all your dwelling places, the cities shall be laid waste and the high places shall be desolate, so that your altars {mizbechoteikhem: places of sacrifice} will become ruined and desolate, your idols {gilluleikhem: carved or molded images} will be broken and cease, your incense altars will be cut down, and your works will be blotted out.
7 And the slain {chalal: those killed in judgment} will fall in your midst, and you will know that I am the LORD {YHWH, Self-Manifesting Judge}.
8 Yet I will leave {hotarti: cause to remain} a remnant for you when survivors of the sword are among the nations, when you are scattered among the lands {aratzot: foreign territories}.
9 And your survivors will remember Me {YHWH, Righteous Judge} among the nations where they have been taken captive, when I have been broken {nishbarti: deeply wounded} by their adulterous heart, which turned away from Me and by their eyes which go whoring after their idols; and they will loathe themselves for the evils they have done for all their abominations.
10 And they will know that I am the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Judge}, for I have not spoken in vain to bring this evil {hara’ah: calamity} upon them.
11 Thus says the Lord GOD {Adonai YHWH: Sovereign Judge}, “Strike with your hand and stamp with your foot, and say, ‘Alas {ah: cry of anguish} for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! For by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence they will fall.’”
12 The one who is far off shall die by the pestilence; the one who is near shall fall by the sword; and the one who remains and is besieged shall die by famine. Thus I {YHWH, Avenging Judge} will bring my fury {chamah: burning anger} to its full end upon them.
13 And you will know that I am the LORD {YHWH, Ultimate Revealer} when their slain lie in the midst of their idols and the surroundings of their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, and under every green tree and under every dense oak—the place where they set a pleasing fragrance to all their idols {gilluleihem: abominations}.
14 And I will stretch out my hand {yad: symbol of power and action} against them, and I will make the land a desolation and a waste, from the wilderness toward Diblathah, in all their dwelling places; and they will know that I am the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge}.