Ezekiel 36

1 “But as for you, son of man, prophesy over the mountains of Israel, and you shall say: O mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord.

“Now you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, 'Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of Yahweh.

2 Thus says the Lord God: Because the enemy has said about you: ‘It is well! The everlasting heights have been given to us as an inheritance!’

The Lord Yahweh says this: The enemy has said about you, “Aha!” and “The ancient high places have become our possession.”'

3 because of this, prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord God: Because you have been made desolate, and you have been trampled on every side, and you have been made into an inheritance for the remainder of the nations, and because you rose up, over the tip of the tongue and over the shame of the people,

Therefore prophesy and say, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: Because of your desolation and because of the attacks that came on you from all sides, you have become a possession of the other nations; you have been the subject of slanderous lips and tongues, and of people's stories.

4 because of this, O mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the torrents, and to the valleys, and to the deserts, and to the ruins, and to the forsaken cities, which have been depopulated and ridiculed by the remainder of the nations all around:

Therefore, mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord Yahweh: The Lord Yahweh says this to the mountains and the high hills, to the streambeds and valleys, to the uninhabited desolations and the forsaken cities that have become plunder and a subject of mocking for the other nations that surround them—

5 Because of this, thus says the Lord God: In the fire of my zeal, I have spoken about the remainder of the nations, and about all of Idumea, who have given my land to themselves, joyfully, as an inheritance, and with all the heart and mind, and who have cast it out, so that they may lay waste to it.

therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: I have certainly spoken in the fire of my fury against the other nations, against Edom and all who took my land for themselves as a possession, against all those who had both joy in their heart and disdain in their spirit, as they seized my land that they might claim its pasturelands for themselves.'

6 Therefore, prophesy over the soil of Israel, and you shall say to the mountains, and to the hills, to the ridges, and to the valleys: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I have spoken in my zeal and in my fury, because you have endured the shame of the Gentiles.

Therefore, prophesy to the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the high hills, to the streambeds and to the valleys, 'the Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! In my fury and in my anger I am declaring this because you have borne the insults of nations.

7 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: I have lifted up my hand, so that the Gentiles, who are all around you, will themselves bear their shame.

Therefore, the Lord Yahweh says this: I myself will lift up my hand to swear that the nations that surround you will certainly carry their own shame.

8 But as for you, O mountains of Israel, spring forth your branches, and bear your fruit, to my people Israel. For they are close to their advent.

But you, mountains of Israel, you will grow branches and bear fruit for my people Israel, since they will soon come back to you.

9 For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be plowed, and you will receive seed.

For behold, I am for you, and I treat you with favor; you will be plowed and sown with seed.

10 And I will multiply men among you and among all the house of Israel. And the cities shall be inhabited, and the ruinous places shall be restored.

So I will multiply upon you the number of your people, even the whole house of Israel. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.

11 And I will fill you again with men and with cattle. And they will be multiplied, and they will increase. And I will cause you to live as from the beginning, and I will give you even greater gifts than those you had from the start. And you shall know that I am the Lord.

I will multiply man and beast on you mountains so that they will multiply and be fruitful. Then I will cause you to be inhabited as you previously were, and I will make you prosper more than you did in the past, for you will know that I am Yahweh.

12 And I will lead men over you, over my people Israel, and they will possess you as an inheritance. And you shall be to them as an inheritance. And you shall no longer be permitted to be without them.

I will bring men, my people Israel, to walk on you. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will no longer cause their children to die.

13 Thus says the Lord God: Because they are saying about you, ‘You are a woman who devours men, and you are strangling your own nation,’

The Lord Yahweh says this: Because they are saying to you, “You devour men, bereaving your nation of children,”

14 because of this, you shall no longer consume men, and you shall no longer harm your own nation, says the Lord God.

therefore you will not consume people any longer, and you will no longer make your nation mourn their deaths. This is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.

15 Neither will I permit men to discover in you the shame of the Gentiles any more. And you shall never again bear the reproach of the peoples. And you shall not send your people away any more, says the Lord God.”

Nor will I allow you to hear the insults of the nations any longer; you will no longer have to bear the shame of the peoples or cause your nation to fall—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.'”

16 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

17 “Son of man, the house of Israel lived on their own soil, and they defiled it with their ways and with their intentions. Their way, in my sight, became like the uncleanness of a menstruous woman.

“Son of man, when the house of Israel inhabited their land, they defiled it with their ways and their deeds. Their ways were like the unclean menstruation of a woman before me.

18 And so I poured out my indignation upon them, because of the blood which they shed upon the land, and because they defiled it with their idols.

So I poured out my fury against them for the blood that they poured out on the land and for their pollution of it by their idols.

19 And I dispersed them among the Gentiles, and they have been scattered among the lands. I have judged them according to their ways and their plans.

I scattered them among the nations; they were dispersed through the lands. I judged them according to their ways and their deeds.

20 And when they walked among the Gentiles, to whom they had entered, they defiled my holy name, though it was being said about them: ‘This is the people of the Lord,’ and ‘They went forth from his land.’

Then they went to the nations, and wherever they went, they profaned my holy name when people said of them, 'Are these really the people of Yahweh? For they have been thrown out of his land.'

21 But I have spared my holy name, which the house of Israel has defiled among the Gentiles, to whom they entered.

But I had compassion for my holy name that the house of Israel had defiled among the nations, when they went there.

22 For this reason, you shall say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: I will act, not for your sake, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have defiled among the Gentiles, to whom you entered.

Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: I am not doing this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations everywhere you have gone.

23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was defiled among the Gentiles, which you have defiled in their midst. So may the Gentiles know that I am the Lord, says the Lord of hosts, when I will have been sanctified in you, before their eyes.

For I will make my great name holy, which you have profaned among the nations—in the midst of the nations, you profaned it. Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—when you see that I am holy.

24 Certainly, I will take you away from the Gentiles, and I will gather you together from all the lands, and I will lead you into your own land.

I will take you from the nations and gather you from every land, and I will bring you to your land.

25 And I will pour clean water over you, and you shall be cleansed from all your filth, and I will cleanse you from all your idols.

Then I will sprinkle pure water on you so you will be purified from all of your impurities, and I will purify you from all of your idols.

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

I will give you a new heart and a new spirit in your innermost parts, and I will take away the heart of stone from your flesh. For I will give you a heart of flesh.

27 And I will place my Spirit in your midst. And I will act so that you may walk in my precepts and keep my judgments, and so that you may fulfill them.

I will set my Spirit in you and enable you to walk in my statutes and keep my decrees, so you will do them.

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

Then you will inhabit the land that I gave to your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.

29 And I will save you from all your filth. And I will call for grain, and I will multiply it, and I will not impose a famine upon you.

For I will save you from all of your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and multiply it. I will no longer put famine upon you.

30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you may no longer bear the disgrace of famine among the nations.

I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field so that you will no longer bear the shame of famine among the nations.

31 And you shall remember your very wicked ways and your intentions, which were not good. And you will be displeased by your own iniquities and your own crimes.

Then you will think of your wicked ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will show loathing on your faces because of your own sins and your disgusting deeds.

32 It is not for your sakes that I will act, says the Lord God; let this be known to you. Be confounded and ashamed over your own ways, O house of Israel.

I am not doing this for your sake—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—let this be known to you. So be ashamed and disgraced because of your ways, house of Israel.

33 Thus says the Lord God: In the day when I will have cleansed you from all your iniquities, and when I will have caused the cities to be inhabited, and when I will have restored the ruinous places,

The Lord Yahweh says this: On the day that I purify you from all your iniquity, I will cause you to inhabit the cities and to rebuild the ruined places.

34 and when the deserted land will have been cultivated, which previously was desolate to the eyes of all who passed by,

For you will plow the ruined land until it is no longer a ruin before the eyes of all who pass by.

35 then they shall say: ‘This uncultivated land has become a garden of delight, and the cities, which were deserted and destitute and overturned, have been settled and fortified.’

Then they will say, “This land was desolate, but it has become like the garden of Eden; the desolate cities and the uninhabited ruins that were torn down are now fortified and inhabited.”

36 And the Gentiles, those who remain around you, shall know that I, the Lord, have built up what was destroyed, and have planted what was uncultivated. I, the Lord, have spoken and acted.

Then the other nations around you will know that I am Yahweh, that I built up the ruins and replanted the abandoned places. I am Yahweh. I have declared it and I will do it.

37 Thus says the Lord God: Even in this time, the house of Israel shall find me, so that I may act for them. I will multiply them like a flock of men,

The Lord Yahweh says this: Again I will be asked by the house of Israel to do this for them, to increase them like a flock of people.

38 like a holy flock, like the flock of Jerusalem in her solemnities. So shall the deserted cities be filled with flocks of men. And they shall know that I am the Lord.”

Like the flock is set apart for sacrifices, like the flock in Jerusalem at her appointed feasts, so will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people and they will know that I am Yahweh.'”