I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, "Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.
Considerable attention has been devoted to the meaning of "altar" in this first verse; because, when this is understood as a reference to the pagan altars in Bethel, a correct interpretation of the entire passage becomes impossible.