Ezekiel 36

1 And you, son of man, be a prophet about the mountains of Israel, and say, You mountains of Israel, give ear to the word of the Lord:

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

2 This is what the Lord has said: Because your hater has said against you, Aha! and, The old waste places are our heritage, we have taken them:

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because the enemy hath said concerning you, “Aha! the everlasting heights have become our possession”;

3 For this cause be a prophet, and say, This is what the Lord has said: Because, even because they have been glad over you and put you to shame on every side, because you have become a heritage for the rest of the nations, and you are taken up on the lips of talkers and in the evil talk of the people:

therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because, yea, because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, so that ye have become a possession to the residue of the nations, and a subject for the lips of talkers, and a derision to the people;

4 For this reason, you mountains of Israel, give ear to the word of the Lord; this is what the Lord has said to the mountains and to the hills, to the streams and to the valleys, to the unpeopled wastes and to the towns where no one is living, from which the goods have been taken and which have been put to shame by the rest of the nations who are round about:

therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Jehovah. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, to the mountains and the hills, the valleys and the plain, to the desolate wastes and to the forsaken cities, which are become a prey and a derision to the residue of the nations which are round about, —

5 For this cause the Lord has said: Truly, in the heat of my bitter feeling I have said things against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who have taken my land as a heritage for themselves with the joy of all their heart, and with bitter envy of soul have made attacks on it:

therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, who have allotted my land to themselves for a possession, with joy of their whole heart, and with a despiteful mind, to cast it out for a prey.

6 For this cause be a prophet about the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the streams and to the valleys, This is what the Lord has said: Truly, in my bitter feeling and in my wrath I have said these things, because you have undergone the shame of the nations:

Prophesy, therefore, concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the valleys and the plains, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the reproach of the nations.

7 For this cause the Lord has said, See, I have taken an oath that the nations which are round about you are themselves to undergo the shame which they have put on you.

Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I have lifted up my hand, that the nations that are round about you, that they shall bear their reproach.

8 But you, O mountains of Israel, will put out your branches and give your fruit to my people Israel; for they are ready to come.

But ye, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches, and bear your fruit for my people Israel; for they are near coming.

9 For truly I am for you, and I will be turned to you, and you will be ploughed and planted:

For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and ye shall be tilled and sown;

10 And I will let your numbers be increased, all the children of Israel, even all of them: and the towns will be peopled and the waste places will have buildings;

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

11 Man and beast will be increased in you, and they will have offspring and be fertile: I will make you thickly peopled as you were before, and will do more for you than at the first: and you will be certain that I am the Lord.

I will multiply men upon you, and beasts; and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as of old, and will do better to you than in the ancient time; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.

12 Yes, I will have you walked on by the feet of men, even my people Israel; they will have you for a heritage and you will be theirs, and never again will you take their children from them.

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

13 This is what the Lord has said: Because they say to you, You, O land, are the destruction of men, causing loss of children to your nation;

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because they say of you, “Thou hast devoured men, and made thy people childless!”

14 For this reason you will no longer take the lives of men and will never again be the cause of loss of children to your nation, says the Lord.

therefore thou shalt devour men no more, and no more make thy people childless, saith the Lord Jehovah.

15 And I will not let the shaming of the nations come to your ears, and no longer will you be looked down on by the peoples, says the Lord.

Neither will I cause the reproach of the nations to be heard against thee any more, neither shalt thou bear the derision of the nations any more, neither shalt thou make thy nation childless any more, saith the lord Jehovah.

16 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

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

17 Son of man, when the children of Israel were living in their land, they made it unclean by their way and their acts: their way before me was as when a woman is unclean at the time when she is kept separate.

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 impurity of an unclean woman.

18 So I let loose my wrath on them because of those whom they had violently put to death in the land, and because they had made it unclean with their images:

Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood which they had shed in the land, and because they had polluted it with their idols.

19 And I sent them in flight among the nations and wandering through the countries: I was their judge, rewarding them for their way and their acts.

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

20 And when they came among the nations, wherever they went, they made my holy name unclean, when it was said of them, These are the people of the Lord who have gone out from his land.

And when they came to the nations whither they went, they polluted my holy name, in that it was said of them, “These are the people of Jehovah, and they are gone forth out of his land.”

21 But I had pity for my holy name which the children of Israel had made unclean wherever they went.

Therefore I will have regard to my holy name, which the house of Israel have polluted among the nations whither they are gone.

22 For this cause say to the children of Israel, This is what the Lord has said: I am doing this, not because of you, O children of Israel, but because of my holy name, which you have made unclean among the nations wherever you went.

Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Not for your own sakes do I this, O house of Israel, but for my holy name, which ye have polluted among the nations whither ye are gone.

23 And I will make holy my great name which has been made unclean among the nations, which you have made unclean among them; and it will be clear to the nations that I am the Lord, says the Lord, when I make myself holy in you before their eyes.

And I will sanctify my great name, which hath been polluted among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall be sanctified in regard to you, before their eyes, saith the Lord Jehovah.

24 For I will take you out from among the nations, and get you together from all the countries, and take you into your land.

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

25 And I will put clean water on you so that you may be clean: from all your unclean ways and from all your images I will make you clean.

Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean. From all your uncleanness and from all your idols will I cleanse you.

26 And I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you: I will take away the heart of stone from your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh.

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take out of your body the heart of stone, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my spirit in you, causing you to be guided by my rules, and you will keep my orders and do them.

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

28 So that you may go on living in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you will be to me a people, and I will be to you a God.

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

29 And I will make you free from all your unclean ways: and at my voice the grain will come up and be increased, and I will not let you be short of food.

And I will save you from all your uncleanness. And I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and bring no famine upon you.

30 And I will make the tree give more fruit and the field fuller produce, and no longer will you be shamed among the nations for need of food.

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

31 And at the memory of your evil ways and your wrongdoings, you will have bitter hate for yourselves because of your evil-doings and your disgusting ways, O children of Israel.

Then shall ye remember your evil ways, and your doings which were not good, and ye shall loathe yourselves for your iniquities, and for your abominations.

32 Not because of you am I doing it, says the Lord; let it be clear to you, and be shamed and made low because of your ways, O children of Israel.

Not for your own sakes do I this, saith the Lord Jehovah, be it known to you. Be ye ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!

33 This is what the Lord has said: In the day when I make you clean from all your evil-doings I will let the towns be peopled and there will be building on the waste places.

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In the day when I shall cleanse you from all your iniquities, then will I cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places to be rebuilt;

34 And the land which was waste will be farmed, in place of being a waste in the eyes of everyone who went by.

and the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.

35 And they will say, This land which was waste has become like the garden of Eden; and the towns which were unpeopled and wasted and pulled down are walled and peopled.

Then shall it be said, “This land, that was desolate, is become as the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.”

36 Then the rest of the nations round about you will be certain that I the Lord am the builder of the places which were pulled down and the planter of that which was waste: I the Lord have said it, and I will do it.

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

37 This is what the Lord has said: The children of Israel will again make prayer to me for this, that I may do it for them; I will make them increased with men like a flock.

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Yet will I listen to the house of Israel, and do this for them. I will increase

38 Like sheep for the offerings, like the sheep of Jerusalem at her fixed feasts, so the unpeopled towns will be made full of men: and they will be certain that I am the Lord.

them with men like a flock; as the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.