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Ezekiel 6

Ezekiel 6 Summary, Context, and Full Chapter

Ezekiel 6 speaks directly against Israel's idol worship and the places set apart for it. The chapter warns of coming judgment, but it also points to a remnant who survive, remember the Lord, and come to see the seriousness of their sin.

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What happens in Ezekiel 6?

God tells Ezekiel to prophesy against the mountains of Israel, announcing sword, ruin, and the destruction of altars, incense stands, and high places. The chapter paints a scene of widespread loss so that Israel will know the Lord is acting in judgment. Yet it also leaves room for mercy: a remnant will escape, be scattered among the nations, and remember the Lord with grief over their rebellion. In exile, they will come to hate the evil they once embraced and understand that the announced disaster was not empty words.

Ezekiel 6 follows the sign-acts and warnings of the previous chapter, continuing God's message to exiled Israel. It narrows the focus to the roots of the nation's guilt, especially idolatry at the high places. The chapter fits into the opening section of Ezekiel where warnings of judgment are repeated before later promises of restoration.

Themes to notice

  • Judgment on idolatryGod confronts the places and practices that drew Israel away from him and announces their destruction.
  • Knowing the LordThe repeated result of judgment is that Israel will recognize the Lord's power and truth.
  • A humbled remnantSome survive exile, remember their sin, and respond with shame and repentance.

Questions for Ezekiel 6

  • What does this chapter show about the seriousness of idolatry in Israel?
  • Why does God leave a remnant instead of wiping out the whole nation?
  • How do the repeated words about knowing the Lord shape the message of the chapter?

Read the full text of Ezekiel 6 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.

Ezekiel 6

Judgment against Idolatry

1And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,2“Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them.3You are to say: ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD! This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.4Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will cast down your slain before your idols.5I will lay the corpses of the Israelites before their idols and scatter your bones around your altars.6Wherever you live, the cities will be laid waste and the high places will be demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and desecrated, your idols smashed and obliterated, your incense altars cut down, and your works blotted out.7The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.

A Remnant to Be Blessed

8Yet I will leave a remnant, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the nations and throughout the lands.9Then in the nations to which they have been carried captive, your survivors will remember Me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts that turned away from Me, and by their eyes that lusted after idols. So they will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their abominations.10And they will know that I am the LORD; I did not declare in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.

11This is what the Lord GOD says: Clap your hands, stomp your feet, and cry out “Alas!” because of all the wicked abominations of the house of Israel, who will fall by sword and famine and plague.12He who is far off will die by the plague, he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains will die by famine. So I will vent My fury upon them.13Then you will know that I am the LORD, when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, and under every green tree and leafy oak—the places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols.14I will stretch out My hand against them, and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Diblah. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”

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