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!

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

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

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

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.

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 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,

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 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?

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 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 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 said Lord YHWH: I have lifted up My hand, Do the nations who [are] surrounding you not bear their own 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 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 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 have turned to you, And you have been tilled and sown.

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

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 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.

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 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.

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

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

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

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 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.”

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 there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,

Then the word of Yahweh 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, 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 I pour out My fury on them For the blood that they shed on the land, And they have 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 scatter them among nations, And they are spread through lands, According to their way, and according to their doings, I have judged them.

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

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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 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,

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

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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,

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

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

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 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,

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 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 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.'”