Jezekiel 36
1 And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say to the mountains of Israel, Hear you the word of the Lord:
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:
2 Thus says the Lord God; Because the enemy has said against you, Aha, the old waste places are become a possession for us:
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:
3 therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God; Because you have been dishonoured, and hated by those round about you, that you might be a possession to the remainder of the nations, and you became a byword, and a reproach to the nations:
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:
4 therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord; Thus says the Lord to the mountains, and to the hills, and to the streams, and to the valleys, and to [the places] that have been made desolate and destroyed, and to the cities that have been deserted, and have become a spoil and a trampling to the nations that were left round about;
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:
5 therefore, thus says the Lord; Verily in the fire of my wrath have I spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Idumea, because they have appropriated my land to themselves for a possession with joy, disregarding the lives [of the inhabitants], to destroy [it] by plunder:
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:
6 therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains, and to the hills, and to the valleys, and to the forests, Thus says the Lord; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because you have borne the reproaches of the heathen:
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:
7 therefore I will lift up my hand against the nations that are round about you; they shall bear their reproach.
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.
8 But your grapes and your fruits, O mountains of Israel, shall my people eat; for they are hoping to come.
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.
9 For, behold, I am towards you, and I will have respect to you, and you shall be tilled and sown:
For truly I am for you, and I will be turned to you, and you will be ploughed and planted:
10 and I will multiply men upon you, [even] all the house of Israel to the end: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the desolate land shall be built upon.
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;
11 And I will multiply men and cattle upon you; and I will cause you to dwell as at the beginning, and will treat you well, as in your former [times]: and you shall know that I am the Lord.
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.
12 And I will increase men upon you, [even] my people Israel; and they shall inherit you, and you shall be to them for a possession; and you shall no more be bereaved of them.
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.
13 Thus says the Lord God: Because they said to you, You [land] devour men, and have been bereaved of your nation;
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;
14 therefore you shall no more devour men, and you shall no more bereave your nation, says the Lord God.
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.
15 And there shall no more be heard against you the reproach of the nations, and you shall no more bear the revilings of the peoples, says the Lord God.
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.
16 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
17 Son of man, the house of Israel lived upon their land, and defiled it by their way, and with their idols, and with their uncleannesses; and their way was before me like the uncleanness of a removed woman.
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.
18 So I poured out my wrath upon them:
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:
19 and I dispersed them amongst the nations, and utterly scattered them through the countries: I judged them according to their way and according to their sin.
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.
20 And they went in amongst the nations, amongst which they went, and they profaned my holy name, while it was said of them, These are the people of the Lord, and they came forth out of his land.
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.
21 But I spared them for the sake of my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned amongst the nations, amongst whom they went.
But I had pity for my holy name which the children of Israel had made unclean wherever they went.
22 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord; I do not this, O house of Israel, for your sakes, but because of my holy name, which you have profaned amongst the nations, amongst whom you went.
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.
23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned amongst the nations, which you profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, when I am sanctified amongst you before their eyes.
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.
24 And I will take you out from the nations, and will gather you out of all the lands, and will bring you into your own land:
For I will take you out from among the nations, and get you together from all the countries, and take you into your land.
25 and I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be purged from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols, and I will cleanse you.
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.
26 And I will give you a new heart, and will put a new spirit in you: and I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh.
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.
27 And I will put my Spirit in you, and will cause you to walk in mine ordinances, and to keep my judgements, and do [them].
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.
28 And you shall dwell upon the land which I gave to your fathers; and you shall be to me a people, and I will be to you a God.
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.
29 And I will save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and multiply it, and will not bring famine upon you.
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.
30 And I will multiply the fruit of the trees, and the produce of the field, that you may not bear the reproach of famine amongst the nations.
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.
31 And you shall remember your evil ways and your practices that were not good, and you shall be hateful in your own sight for your transgressions and for your abominations.
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.
32 Not for your sakes do I [this], says the Lord God, [as] it is known to you: be you ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.
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.
33 Thus says the Lord God; In the day wherein I shall cleanse you from all your iniquities I will also cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste [places] shall be built upon:
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.
34 and the desolate land shall be cultivated, whereas it was desolate in the eyes of every one that passed by.
And the land which was waste will be farmed, in place of being a waste in the eyes of everyone who went by.
35 And they shall say, That desolate land is become like a garden of delight; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are inhabited.
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.
36 And the nations, as many as shall have been left round about you, shall know that I the Lord have built the ruined [cities] and planted the waste [lands]: I the Lord have spoken, and will do [it].
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.
37 Thus says the Lord God; Yet [for] this will I be sought by the house of Israel, to establish them; I will multiply them [even] men as sheep;
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.
38 as holy sheep, as the sheep of Jerusalem in her feasts; thus shall the desert cities be full of flocks of men: and they shall know that I [am] the Lord.
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.
