Ezekiel 36

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

“And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: Mountains of Israel, listen to this message from the Lord.

2 Thus saith the Lord God: Because the enemy hath said of you: Aha, the everlasting heights are given to us for an inheritance.

This is what the Lord God says: The enemy said about you, ‘Aha! These old high places now belong to us,’

3 Therefore prophesy, and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Because you have been desolate, and trodden under foot on every side, and made an inheritance to the rest of the nations, and are become the subject of the talk, and the reproach of the people:

so you must prophesy and announce that this is what the Lord God says: They have turned you into a wasteland, attacking you from every direction, so that you became the property of other nations and people gossiped about you and slandered you.

4 Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the brooks, and to the valleys, and to desolate places, and ruinous walls, and to the cities that are forsaken, that are spoiled, and derided by the rest of the nations round about.

So now, mountains of Israel, listen to the message from the Lord God. This is what the Lord God says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the deserted ruins and abandoned towns, that the other nations around you have looted and mocked.

5 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: In the fire of my zeal I have spoken of the rest of the nations, and of all Edom, who have taken my land to themselves, for an inheritance with joy, and with all the heart, and with the mind: and have cast it out to lay it waste.

Yes, this is what the Lord God says: I have spoken passionately against these other nations, and against all the Edomites, who took over my country and made it theirs, happily celebrating as they looted the land and treated me with complete contempt.

6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains, and to the hills, to the ridges, and to the valleys: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I have spoken in my zeal, and in my indignation, because you have borne the shame of the Gentiles.

So prophesy concerning the country of Israel and tell the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, that this is what the Lord God says: Just watch, for I have spoken passionately about this because you have had to put up with this mockery from other nations.

7 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: I have lifted up my hand, that the Gentiles who are round about you, shall themselves bear their shame.

This is what the Lord God says: I hold up my hand and swear that the other nations around you will suffer their own shame.

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

But you, mountains of Israel, will grow trees that will produce fruit for my people Israel, for soon they'll be coming home.

9 For lo I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be ploughed and sown.

Look, I am for you and I will help you. Your land will be ploughed, and crops will be sown.

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

You will support the people of Israel as they return and grow in number. People will live in the towns again and rebuild the ruins.

11 And I will make you abound with men and with beasts: and they shall be multiplied, and increased: and I will settle you as from the beginning, and will give you greater gifts, than you had from the beginning: and you shall know that I am the Lord.

The number of your people will grow— they will have many children. The animals too will have many young. I will make sure that you're inhabited just as you used to be, and I will make you more prosperous that you were before. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

12 And I will bring men upon you, my people Israel, and they shall possess thee for their inheritance: and thou shalt be their inheritance, and shalt no more henceforth be without them.

I will have my people Israel walk on you mountains. You will be theirs; you will belong to them, and you will no longer rob your nation of their children.

13 Thus saith the Lord God: Because they say of you: Thou art a devourer of men, and one that suffocatest thy nation:

This is what the Lord God says: Because people say to you, ‘You eat people, and rob your nation of their children,’

14 Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, nor destroy thy nation any more, saith the Lord God:

from now on you won't eat people or rob your nation of their children, declares the Lord God.

15 Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the nations any more, nor shalt thou bear the reproach of the people, nor lose thy nation any more, saith the Lord God.

I'm going to stop these nations insulting you, and you won't have to put up with their taunts any more, or make the nation fall, declares the Lord God.”

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

Another message from Lord came to me, saying,

17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it with their ways, and with their doings: their way was before me like the uncleanness of a menstruous woman.

“Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their country, they made it unclean by the way they behaved, by what they did. The way they were behaving in my presence was like the ceremonial uncleanness of a woman's period.

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

So I became angry with them because of murders they committed in the country, and because they made it unclean by worshiping idols.

19 And I scattered them among the nations, and they are dispersed through the countries: I have judged them according to their ways, and their devices.

I scattered them among the different nations and countries. I judged them according to the way they had behaved and what they did.

20 And when they entered among the nations whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when it was said of them: This is the people of the Lord, and they are come forth out of his land.

But wherever they went among the nations, they ruined my reputation, because people said about them, ‘These are the Lord's people, but they had to leave his country.’

21 And I have regarded my own holy name, which the house of Israel hath profaned among the nations to which they went in.

So I had to take care of my reputation for holiness which the people of Israel had ruined among the nations where they'd gone.

22 Therefore thou shalt say to the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord God: It is not for your sake that I will do this, O house of Israel, but for my holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations whither you went.

Tell the people of Israel that this is what the Lord God says: I'm not doing this for you, people of Israel, but for my reputation for holiness, which you ruined among the nations where you went.

23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the Gentiles, which you have profaned in the midst of them: that the Gentiles may know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord of hosts, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

I will reveal the holy nature and importance of my reputation, which has been ruined among the nations, the reputation you have ruined among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when I reveal my holiness through you as they watch.

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

For I will bring you back from among the nations, gathering you from all the different countries, and I will lead you back into your own country.

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

I will also pour pure water over you, and you will be clean. I will wash you clean from all your uncleanness and from all your idols.

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

I will give you a new mind and I will put a new spirit inside you. I will take away your stubborn mind and I will give you a loving mind.

27 And I will put my spirit in the midst of you: and I will cause you to walk in my commandments, and to keep my judgments, and do them.

I will put my Spirit inside you so you will follow my laws and remember to do what I tell you.

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

Then you will live in the country I gave to your forefathers. You will be my people, and I will be your God.

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

I will save you from everything that makes you unclean. I will make sure you have plenty of grain. I won't send you any famines.

30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the held, that you bear no more the reproach of famine among the nations.

I will also make sure you have good harvests from your orchards and fields, so that you won't be mocked by other nations anymore because of famine.

31 And you shall remember your wicked ways, and your doings that were not good: and your iniquities, and your wicked deeds shall displease you.

Then you will remember your evil ways and terrible things you've done, and you'll hate yourselves for your sins and disgusting actions.

32 It is not for your sakes that I will do this, saith the Lord God, be it known to you: be confounded, and ashamed at your own ways, O house of Israel.

You need to realize that I'm not doing this for your sake, declares the Lord God. You should be ashamed and embarrassed for what you've done, people of Israel!

33 Thus saith the Lord God: In the day that I shall cleanse you from all your iniquities, and shall cause the cities to be inhabited, and shall repair the ruinous places,

This is what the Lord God says: On the day I make you clean from all your sins, I will have you live in your towns again and make sure the ruins are rebuilt.

34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, which before was waste in the sight of all that passed by,

The land that was deserted will be cultivated again instead of looking abandoned to everyone passing by.

35 They shall say: This land that was untilled is become as a garden of pleasure: and the cities that were abandoned, and desolate, and destroyed, are peopled and fenced.

Then they will say, ‘This deserted land is now like the garden of Eden. The towns that were demolished, abandoned, and destroyed have been restored and strengthened, and people are living in them.’

36 And the nations, that shall be left round about you, shall know that I the Lord have built up what was destroyed, and planted what was desolate, that I the Lord have spoken and done it.

Then those nations around you that are left will acknowledge that I, the Lord, have rebuilt what was demolished, and that I have replanted what was destroyed. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will carry it out.

37 Thus saith the Lord God: Moreover in this shall the house of Israel find me, that I will do it for them: I will multiply them as a flock of men,

This is what the Lord God says: I will once again answer the prayers of the people of Israel. This is what I will do for them: I will have them increase in number like a flock.

38 As a holy dock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts: so shall the waste cities be full of flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

Just like all the many flocks that are brought to Jerusalem to be sacrificed during the religious festivals, so the towns that were once demolished will be full of flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”