Ezekiel 36

1 And thou, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of Jehovah.

2 Thus says the lord Jehovah: Because the enemy has said against you, Aha! and, The ancient high places are ours in possession,

3 therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the lord Jehovah: Because, even because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession to the residue of the nations, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and the evil report of the people,

4 therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the lord Jehovah. Thus says the lord Jehovah to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which have become a prey and derision to the residue of the nations that are round about,

5 therefore thus says the lord Jehovah: Surely in the fire of my jealousy I have spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, who have appointed my land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with spite of soul, to cast it out for a prey.

6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, Thus says the lord Jehovah: Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because ye have borne the shame of the nations.

7 Therefore thus says the lord Jehovah: I have sworn, saying, Surely the nations that are round about you, they shall bear their shame.

8 But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they are at hand to come.

9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn into you, and ye shall be tilled and sown.

10 And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it, and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built.

11 And I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall increase and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited according to your former estate, and will do better to you than at your beginnings. And ye shall know that I am Jehovah.

12 Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel, and they shall possess thee, and thou shall be their inheritance, and thou shall no more henceforth bereave them of sons.

13 Thus says the lord Jehovah: Because they say to you, Thou O land are a devourer of men, and have been a bereaver of thy nation,

14 therefore thou shall no more devour men, nor bereave thy nation any more, says the lord Jehovah.

15 Neither will I let thee hear any more the shame of the nations, nor shall thou bear the reproach of the peoples any more, nor shall thou cause thy nation to stumble any more, says the lord Jehovah.

16 Moreover the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings. Their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.

18 Therefore I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood which they had poured out upon the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols.

19 And I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. I judged them according to their way and according to their doings.

20 And when they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name, in that men said of them, These are the people of Jehovah, and have gone forth out of his land.

21 But I had regard for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.

22 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the lord Jehovah: I do this not for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name, which ye have profaned among the nations where ye went.

23 And I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them. And the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, says the lord Jehovah, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

24 For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.

25 And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, and from all your idols.

26 I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my ordinances, and do them.

28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

29 And I will save you from all your uncleannesses. And I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine upon you.

30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye may no more receive the reproach of famine among the nations.

31 Then ye shall remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good. And ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

32 I do this not for your sake, says the lord Jehovah; be it known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

33 Thus says the lord Jehovah: In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built.

34 And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all who passed by.

35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. And the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.

36 Then the nations that are left round about you shall know that I, Jehovah, have built the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate. I, Jehovah, have spoken it, and I will do it.

37 Thus says the lord Jehovah: For this, moreover, I will be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them. I will increase them with men like a flock.

38 As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men. And they shall know that I am Jehovah.