Look! Here come chariots and horsemen in pairs.” Then he said, “Babylon has fallen! It has fallen! All the idols they worship lie shattered on the ground.”
In this way the wrongdoings of the descendants of Jacob are covered up. This is the way they will turn from their sins— when they turn all the altar stones into powdered chalk and no poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah or incense altars are left standing.
The god Bel bows down; the god Nebo stoops low. Their statues are seated on animals and cattle. The gods that you carry are burdens, a load for weary people.
“ ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: I will destroy the statues and put an end to the idols in Memphis. A prince will never rise again in Egypt. I will spread fear throughout Egypt.
They will no longer dishonor themselves with their idols, with their detestable things, or with their rebellious acts. I will forgive them for all the times they turned away from me and sinned. I will cleanse them so that they will be my people, and I will be their God.
Wherever people live, the cities will be ruined, and the worship sites will be wrecked. Your altars will be ruined and demolished. Your idols will be smashed and completely destroyed. Your incense burners will be cut down, and everything you have done will be wiped out.
“The people of Ephraim will have nothing more to do with idols. I will answer them and take care of them. I am like a growing pine tree. Their fruit comes from me.”
All its idols will be smashed to pieces. All its wages for being a prostitute will be burned. All its statues will be turned into a pile of rubble. Samaria collected its wages for being a prostitute. That money will again pay for prostitutes.
“I will put an end to humans and animals. I will put an end to the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and the sins that make people fall, together with the sinners. I will remove all people from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
“On that day,” declares the Lord of Armies, “I will wipe away the names of the idols from the land. They will no longer be remembered. I will also remove the ⌞false⌟ prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.
