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:

2 Thus says the Lord God; Because the enemy has said against you, Aha, the old waste places are become a possession for us:

3 therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God; Because you have been dishonored, 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:

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;

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:

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:

7 therefore I will lift up my hand against the nations that are round about you; they shall bear their reproach.

8 But your grapes and your fruits, O mountains of Israel, shall my people eat; for they are hoping to come.

9 For, behold, I am toward you, and I will have respect to you, and you shall be tilled and sown:

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.

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.

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.

13 Thus says the Lord God: Because they said to you, You [land] devour men, and have been bereaved of your nation;

14 therefore you shall no more devour men, and you shall no more bereave your nation, says the Lord God.

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.

16 And 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.

18 So I poured out my wrath upon them:

19 and I dispersed them among the nations, and utterly scattered them through the countries: I judged them according to their way and according to their sin.

20 And they went in among the nations, among 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.

21 But I spared them for the sake of my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations, among whom 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 among the nations, among whom you went.

23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the nations, which you profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, when I am sanctified among 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:

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.

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.

27 And I will put my Spirit in you, and will cause you to walk in mine ordinances, and to keep my judgments, 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.

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.

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 among the nations.

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.

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.

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:

34 and the desolate land shall be cultivated, whereas it was desolate in the eyes of every one that passed 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.

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].

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;

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.