“The places where Isaac’s descendants worship will be destroyed, Israel’s holy places will be turned into ruins, and I will attack King Jeroboam’s family with the sword.”
“We people of Judah are disgraced, because we have been insulted. We have been shamed, because strangers have gone into the holy places of the Lord’s Temple!”
Say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord God. The Lord God says this to the mountains, the hills, the ravines, and the valleys: I will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your places of idol worship.
The places of false worship will be destroyed, the places where Israel sins. Thorns and weeds will grow up and cover their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
“When I punish Israel for their sins, I will also destroy the altars at Bethel. The corners of the altar will be cut off, and they will fall to the ground.
But do not look in Bethel or go to Gilgal, and do not go down to Beersheba. The people of Gilgal will be taken away as captives, and Bethel will become nothing.”
They make promises by the idol in Samaria and say, ‘As surely as the god of Dan lives … ’ and, ‘As surely as the god of Beersheba lives, we promise . . . ’ So they will fall and never get up again.”
I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said: “Smash the top of the pillars so that even the bottom of the doors will shake. Make the pillars fall on the people’s heads; anyone left alive I will kill with a sword. Not one person will get away; no one will escape.
All this is because of Jacob’s sin, because of the sins of the nation of Israel. What is the place of Jacob’s sin? Isn’t it Samaria? What is Judah’s place of idol worship? Isn’t it Jerusalem?