Ezekiel 36

1 “And you, son of man, prophesy to mountains of Israel, and you have said, O mountains of Israel, hear a word of YHWH!

“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.

2 Thus said Lord YHWH: Because the enemy said against you, Aha! The high places of old have also become our possession,

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!’

3 therefore, prophesy, and you have said, Thus said Lord YHWH: Because, even because, of desolating, And of swallowing you up from all around, For your being a possession to the remnant of the nations, And you are taken up on the tip of the tongue, And [are] an evil report to the people.

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,

4 Therefore, O mountains of Israel, Hear a word of Lord YHWH! Thus said Lord YHWH, to mountains, and to hills, To streams, and to valleys, And to ruins that [are] desolate, And to cities that are forsaken, That have been for a prey, And for a scorn, to the remnant of the surrounding nations,

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:

5 Therefore, thus said Lord YHWH: Have I not, in the fire of My jealousy, Spoken against the remnant of the nations, And against Edom—all of it, Who gave My land to themselves for a possession, With the joy of the whole heart—with despite of soul, For the sake of casting it out for a prey?

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.

6 Therefore, prophesy concerning the ground of Israel, And you have said to mountains, and to hills, To streams, and to valleys, Thus said Lord YHWH: Behold, I, in My jealousy and in My fury, have spoken, Because you have borne the shame of nations.

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.

7 Therefore, thus said Lord YHWH: I have lifted up My hand, Do the nations who [are] surrounding you not bear their own shame?

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.

8 And you, O mountains of Israel, You give out your branch, And you bear your fruits for My people Israel, For they have drawn near to come.

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.

9 For behold, I [am] for you, and have turned to you, And you have been tilled and sown.

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

10 And I have multiplied men on you, All the house of Israel—all of it, And the cities have been inhabited, And the ruins are built.

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.

11 And I have multiplied man and beast on you, And they have multiplied and been fruitful, And I have caused you to dwell according to your former states, And I have done better than at your beginnings, And you have known that I [am] YHWH.

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.

12 And I have caused man to walk over you—My people Israel, And they possess you, and you have been their inheritance, And you no longer add to bereave them.

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.

13 Thus said Lord YHWH: Because they are saying to you, You [are] a devourer of men, And you have been a bereaver of your nations,

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,’

14 Therefore, you no longer devour man, And you do not cause your nations to stumble anymore, A declaration of Lord YHWH.

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

15 And I do not proclaim the shame of the nations to you anymore, And you no longer bear the reproach of peoples, And your nations do not stumble anymore, A declaration of Lord YHWH.”

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.”

16 And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,

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

17 “Son of man, The house of Israel are dwelling on their land, And they defile it by their way and by their doings, Their way has been as the uncleanness of a separated one before Me.

“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.

18 And I pour out My fury on them For the blood that they shed on the land, And they have defiled it with their idols.

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.

19 And I scatter them among nations, And they are spread through lands, According to their way, and according to their doings, I have judged them.

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.

20 And one goes to the nations to where they have gone, And they defile My holy Name by saying to them, These [are] the people of YHWH, And they have gone forth from His land.

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.’

21 And I have pity on My holy Name, That the house of Israel has defiled Among the nations to where they have gone in.

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

22 Therefore, say to the house of Israel, Thus said Lord YHWH: I am not working for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy Name That you have defiled Among the nations to where you have gone in.

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.

23 And I have sanctified My great Name, That is profaned among the nations, That you have defiled in your midst, And the nations have known that I [am] YHWH, A declaration of Lord YHWH, In My being sanctified in you before your eyes.

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.

24 And I have taken you out of the nations, And have gathered you out of all the lands, And I have brought you into your land,

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.

25 And I have sprinkled clean water over you, And you have been clean; I cleanse you from all your uncleannesses, And from all your idols.

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.

26 And I have given a new heart to you, And I give a new spirit in your midst, And I have turned aside the heart of stone out of your flesh, And I have given a heart of flesh to you.

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.

27 And I give My Spirit in your midst, And I have done this, so that you walk in My statutes, And you keep My judgments, and have done them.

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.

28 And you have dwelt in the land that I have given to your fathers, And you have been to Me for a people, And I am to you for God.

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.

29 And I have saved you from all your uncleannesses, And I have called to the grain, and multiplied it, And I have put no famine on you.

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.

30 And I have multiplied the fruit of the tree, And the increase of the field, So that you do not receive a reproach of famine among nations anymore.

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.

31 And you have remembered your ways that [are] evil, And your doings that [are] not good, And have been loathsome in your own faces, For your iniquities, and for your abominations.

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.

32 I am not working for your sake, A declaration of Lord YHWH, Be it known to you, Be ashamed and confounded, because of your ways, O house of Israel.

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.

33 Thus said Lord YHWH: In the day of My cleansing you from all your iniquities, I have caused the cities to be inhabited, And the ruins have been built,

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,

34 And the desolate land is tilled, Instead of which it was a desolation before the eyes of everyone passing by,

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

35 And they have said: This land, that was desolated, Has been as the Garden of Eden, And the cities—the dried up, And the desolated, and the broken down, [And the] fortified have remained.

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.’

36 And the nations who are left around you have known That I, YHWH, have built the thrown down, I have planted the desolated: I, YHWH, have spoken, and I have done [it].

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.

37 Thus said Lord YHWH: Yet this I am inquired of by the house of Israel to do for them: I multiply them as a flock of men,

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,

38 As a flock of holy ones, as a flock of Jerusalem, In her appointed times, So the dried up cities are full of flocks of man, And they have known that I [am] YHWH!”

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.”