וַיְהִי דְבַר־ה' אֵלַי לֵאמֹר׃

Another prophecy of rage against the Land of Israel and its sinful inhabitants: The word of the Lord was with me, saying:

בֶּן־אָדָם שִׂים פָּנֶיךָ אֶל־הָרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְהִנָּבֵא אֲלֵיהֶם

Son of man, direct your attention, your pronouncements, to the mountains of Israel, which will serve as a landmark representing the entire land, and prophesy in their regard, primarily to the areas surrounding them.

וְאָמַרְתָּ הָרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל שִׁמְעוּ דְּבַר־ה' אֱלוֹהִים כֹּה־אָמַר ה' אֱלוֹהִים לֶהָרִים וְלַגְּבָעוֹת לָאֲפִיקִים וְלַגֵּאָיוֹת הִנְנִי אֲנִי מֵבִיא עֲלֵיכֶם חֶרֶב וְאִבַּדְתִּי בָּמוֹתֵיכֶם

Say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: So said the Lord God to the mountains, to the hills, to the ravines, and to the valleys: Behold, it is I [hineni ani] who is bringing a sword of war upon you, and with it I will eradicate your shrines that you constructed for idol worship. The word hineni is a contraction of hineh ani, here I am, and is seemingly redundant when followed by the word ani, I or me. The double reference to the first person indicates determination and decisiveness in the fulfillment of the prophecy.

וְנָשַׁמּוּ מִזְבְּחוֹתֵיכֶם וְנִשְׁבְּרוּ חַמָּנֵיכֶם וְהִפַּלְתִּי חַלְלֵיכֶם לִפְנֵי גִּלּוּלֵיכֶם

Your altars will become desolate, as they will be destroyed, and your sun pillars will be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols [gilluleikhem]. Literally translated, gilluleikhem means “your turds.” Here the verse utilizes this term as a derogatory reference to idols.

וְנָתַתִּי אֶת־פִּגְרֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לִפְנֵי גִּלּוּלֵיהֶם וְזֵרִיתִי אֶת־עַצְמוֹתֵיכֶם סְבִיבוֹת מִזְבְּחוֹתֵיכֶם

I will cast the carcasses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your desolate altars.

בְּכֹל מוֹשְׁבוֹתֵיכֶם הֶעָרִים תֶּחֱרַבְנָה וְהַבָּמוֹת תִּישָׁמְנָה לְמַעַן יֶחֶרְבוּ וְיֶאְשְׁמוּ מִזְבְּחוֹתֵיכֶם וְנִשְׁבְּרוּ וְנִשְׁבְּתוּ גִּלּוּלֵיכֶם וְנִגְדְּעוּ חַמָּנֵיכֶם וְנִמְחוּ מַעֲשֵׂיכֶם

Throughout your dwellings, the cities will be destroyed and the shrines will become desolate [tishamna], so that your altars will be destroyed and become desolate [yeshemu]. The word asham also denotes guilt; indeed, these meanings are connected: They will be convicted of guilt and destroyed. Your idols will be broken and eliminated, your sun pillars will be cut down, and your actions will be obliterated.

וְנָפַל חָלָל בְּתוֹכְכֶם וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי־אֲנִי ה'

The slain will fall in your midst, and you will know that I am the Lord.

וְהוֹתַרְתִּי בִּהְיוֹת לָכֶם פְּלִיטֵי חֶרֶב בַּגּוֹיִם בְּהִזָּרוֹתֵיכֶם בָּאֲרָצוֹת

But I will leave some, as with all these punishments you will have survivors from the sword among the nations, as when you will be scattered among the lands.

וְזָכְרוּ פְלִיטֵיכֶם אוֹתִי בַּגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבּוּ־שָׁם אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּרְתִּי אֶת לִבָּם הַזּוֹנֶה אֲשֶׁר־סָר מֵעָלַי וְאֵת עֵינֵיהֶם הַזֹּנוֹת אַחֲרֵי גִּלּוּלֵיהֶם וְנָקֹטּוּ בִּפְנֵיהֶם אֶל־הָרָעוֹת אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ לְכֹל תּוֹעֲבֹתֵיהֶם

Ultimately, the refugees in exile will understand the cause of the destruction: Your survivors will remember Me among the nations where they were taken captive, where I caused their straying heart that turned away from Me and their eyes that stray after their idols to break. Alternatively, I was anguished, as it were, over their straying heart. And they will loathe themselves, and will be ashamed and filled with regret, for the evils that they performed, for all their abominations.

וְיָדְעוּ כִּי־אֲנִי ה' לֹא אֶל־חִנָּם דִּבַּרְתִּי לַעֲשׂוֹת לָהֶם הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת

They will know that I am the Lord; I did not speak in vain to do this evil to them.

כֹּה־אָמַר ה' אֱלוֹהִים הַכֵּה בְכַפְּךָ וּרְקַע בְּרַגְלְךָ וֶאֱמָר־אָח אֶל כָּל־תּוֹעֲבוֹת רָעוֹת בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר בַּחֶרֶב בָּרָעָב וּבַדֶּבֶר יִפֹּלוּ

The prophecy of rage continues: So said the Lord God: Clap with your hand, and stamp with your foot. These are simple, emotive gestures with which one reacts to bad tidings. And say: Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, who, because of their sins, will fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.

הָרָחוֹק בַּדֶּבֶר יָמוּת וְהַקָּרוֹב בַּחֶרֶב יִפּוֹל וְהַנִּשְׁאָר וְהַנָּצוּר בָּרָעָב יָמוּת וְכִלֵּיתִי חֲמָתִי בָּם

He who is distant from the city centers and from the battlefield will die of pestilence, he who is near the war will fall by sword, and the remnant of the sword and pestilence and the besieged inside the cities will die of famine, and I will spend My fury upon them through various punishments.

וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי־אֲנִי ה' בִּהְיוֹת חַלְלֵיהֶם בְּתוֹךְ גִּלּוּלֵיהֶם סְבִיבוֹת מִזְבְּחוֹתֵיהֶם אֶל כָּל־גִּבְעָה רָמָה בְּכֹל רָאשֵׁי הֶהָרִים וְתַחַת כָּל־עֵץ רַעֲנָן וְתַחַת כָּל אֵלָה עֲבֻתָּה מְקוֹם אֲשֶׁר נָתְנוּ־שָׁם רֵיחַ נִיחֹחַ לְכֹל גִּלּוּלֵיהֶם

You will know that I am the Lord, when their slain will be strewn among the sites of their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, and under every flourishing tree and under every thick-branched terebinth, which went unpruned as part of a pagan practice. These represent every place where they presented a pleasing aroma to all their idols.

וְנָטִיתִי אֶת־יָדִי עֲלֵיהֶם וְנָתַתִּי אֶת־הָאָרֶץ שְׁמָמָה וּמְשַׁמָּה מִמִּדְבַּר דִּבְלָתָה בְּכֹל מוֹשְׁבוֹתֵיהֶם וְיָדְעוּ כִּי־אֲנִי ה'

I will extend My hand against them and I will render the land desolation and waste, a twofold desolation in that it will be both uninhabited and in ruins, from the wilderness of Divla, which could be a reference to the southern border in the Judean desert, or, alternatively, from the wilderness in the south until Rivla, located on the northern border, in all their dwellings, and they will know that I am the Lord.