The judgment of Israel for their idolatry, 1-7. A remnant shall be blessed, 8-10. The faithful are exhorted to lament their abominations and calamities, 11-14.
1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them, 3 And say, 'You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains, 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. 4 And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken. And I will cast down your slain men before your idols. 5 And I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of Israel before their idols. 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 may be laid waste and made desolate, your idols may be broken and cease, your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. 7 And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and you shall know that I am the LORD.
8 "Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who shall escape the sword among the nations when you are scattered through the countries. 9 And those who escape of you shall remember me among the nations where they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their apostate heart, which has departed from me, and with their eyes which go astray after their idols. And they shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations. 10 And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them."'
11 "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. 12 He who is far off shall die by the pestilence. And he who is near shall fall by the sword. And he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine. Thus I will accomplish my fury upon them. 13 Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when their slain men are among their idols all around their altars, upon every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they offered sweet savor to all their idols. 14 Thus I will stretch out my hand upon them and make the land desolate, even more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations. And they shall know that I am the LORD."'"
Matthew Henry Commentary - Ezekiel, Chapter 6[➚]
John Gill's Chapter Summary:
This chapter contains a prophecy of the desolation of the whole land of Israel and a promise that a remnant should escape, with a lamentation for the sad destruction, signified by some gestures of the prophet. The order to the prophet to deliver out the prophecy (Ezekiel 6:1-2); the several parts of the land of Israel or Judea, to which the prophecy is directed, are signified by mountains, hills, rivers, and valleys, on which the sword should be brought (Ezekiel 6:3); the desolation is described, and the cause of it suggested, the idolatry of the people (Ezekiel 6:4-7); the promise of a remnant that should escape, who should remember the Lord, loath themselves for their sins, acknowledge him, and that his word was not in vain (Ezekiel 6:8-10); the lamentation, signified by the prophet's smiting with his hand and stamping with his foot, for the sins of the people, and the judgments that should come upon them (Ezekiel 6:11); a particular enumeration of these judgments follows, and of the places where they should be executed (Ezekiel 6:12); the end of them was to bring them to the knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord, against whom they had sinned and offended by their idolatry, as the places where their slain fell would show (Ezekiel 6:13); and the chapter is concluded with a resolution to bring this desolation on them (Ezekiel 6:14).