Ezekiel 36

1 Thou therefore. Son of man, Prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, —and thou shalt say, Ye mountains of Israel Hear ye the word of Yahweh.

You human, prophesy about the mountains in Israel. Say to them, “You mountains in Israel, listen to what Yahweh says.

2 Thus saith My Lord, Yahweh, Because the enemy hath said concerning you Aha! Even the high places of age-past times, for a possession have become ours

This is what Yahweh the Lord says: Your enemies [happily] said about you, ‘Aha! The mountains in Israel that have existed for a long time have become ours!’”

3 Therefore, prophesy, and thou shalt say, Thus saith My Lord Yahweh-Because even because they have desolated and panted for you on every side That ye should become a possession to the rest of the nations, And ye have come up into the talk of the tongue and the slander of the people

Therefore prophesy about those mountains and say, “This is what Yahweh the Lord declares: [Armies of other nations] attacked you [DOU] from every direction, with the result that your land became abandoned, and people of other nations occupied you, and they spoke maliciously about you and slandered you.

4 Therefore ye mountains of Israel, hear ye the word of My Lord Yahweh, — Thus saith My Lord, Yahweh, To the mountains and to the hills, to the channels and to the valleys, and to the desolate waste places and to the cities that are forsaken, which have become a prey and a derision, to the rest of the nations which are on every side:

Therefore, you mountains in Israel, listen to this message from me. I, Yahweh the Lord, have something to say to the hills and mountains, to the ravines and valleys, to the deserted ruins and towns whose valuable possessions have been taken and their people ridiculed by the people of other nations around them. This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare: I am very angry [DOU] with the people of Edom and other nations; they have forced you [Israeli people] to endure them insulting you.

5 Therefore, Thus, saith My Lord, Yahweh, Surely in the fire of my jealousy, have I spoken against the rest of the nations and against Edom all of it, — Who have given my land to themselves for a possession, In the rejoicing of all the heart In contempt of soul, To make of its produce a prey.

6 Therefore prophesy, concerning the soil of Israel, —and say to the mountains and to the hills to the channels and to the valleys, Thus, saith My Lord Yahweh, Behold me! In my jealousy and in mine indignation, have I spoken, Because the insult of the nations, ye have borne;

7 Therefore Thus saith My Lord Yahweh, I myself have lifted my hand, - Surely the nations which are yours round about, they their own shame, shall bear:

Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: Lifting up my arm, I solemnly declare that the people of the nations that are around you will also endure being insulted.

8 But ye O mountains of Israel Your boughs, shall ye shoot forth, And your fruit, shall ye bear For my people Israel, For they have drawn near to enter.

But [I say to] you mountains in Israel that huge crops of fruit will grow on your trees for my Israeli people, because they will soon return home [from Babylonia].

9 For lo! I am towards you, Therefore will I turn towards you, And ye shall be tilled and sown;

I (am concerned about/will take care of) you, and I will bless you. I will [enable farmers to] plow the ground and plant seed there.

10 And I will multiply, upon you—men, All the house of Israel All of it, Then shall the cities be inhabited, And the waste places, shall be built,

I will cause the number of people who live on you mountains and everywhere else in Israel to greatly increase. People will live in the towns and rebuild [houses where there are now only] ruins.

11 And I will multiply upon you—man and beast, And they shall multiply and be fruitful, — And I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former estates. And will do you more good than at your beginnings, So shall ye know that am Yahweh;

I will cause the number of people and domestic animals to increase. People will have many children [IDM, DOU]. I will enable people to live there like they did previously, and I will enable them to prosper like they did before. Then you will know that it is I, Yahweh, [who have the power to do what I say that I will do].

12 And I will bring upon you—men even my people Israel That they may possess thee, So shalt thou be theirs, as an inheritance, -And thou shalt no more again make them childless.

I will enable my Israeli people to walk through your mountains. They will own you; you will be their permanent possession. Never again will their children die.

13 Thus saith My Lord, Yahweh, Because they are saying to you. A devourer of men, thou art, And one that didst make childless thy nations, hast thou been

This is also what I, Yahweh the Lord, say to you: People say that [only a small amount of food is produced on your mountains, and as a result the people of Israel] die from hunger.

14 Therefore, men, shalt thou not devour any more, - And thy nations, shalt thou make childless no more, Declareth My Lord Yahweh;

Therefore, I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that no longer will that happen.

15 And I will not suffer to be heard against thee any more, the insult of the nations, And the reproach of the peoples, shalt thou not bear any more, - And thy nations, shalt thou not cause to stumble any more, Declareth My Lord Yahweh.

No longer will the people of other nations ridicule you; no longer will they laugh at you; no longer will [the armies of] other nations conquer you. [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, have declared that it will happen.”

16 And the word of Yahweh came unto me saying:

Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

17 Son of man The house of Israel were dwelling upon their own soil, But they defiled it by their way, and by their doings. Like the defilement of her that is removed, became their way before me.

“You human, when the Israeli people were living in their own land, they (defiled it/caused it to become unacceptable to me) by the things that they did. I considered that their behavior was [disgusting], like [SIM] the rags/cloths that women use during their monthly menstrual periods.

18 So I poured out mine indignation upon them, Because of the blood which they had shed upon the land, - Yea with their manufactured gods, had they defiled it.

So I severely punished [MTY] them, because they had murdered [MTY] many people and because they had defiled the land by [worshiping] idols there.

19 So I dispersed them among the nations, And they were scattered throughout the lands, — According to their way and according to their doings, I judged them.

I caused them to be scattered among many nations [DOU]. I punished [MTY] them like they deserved to be punished because of their very evil behavior [DOU].

20 But when they entered among the nations where they did enter, then profaned they my holy Name, —in that it was said of them The people of Yahweh, these! Yet from his land, have they come forth!

And wherever they went among those nations, they caused my reputation [MTY] to be disgraced. What has happened is that the people in those countries said about the Israeli people, ‘They belong to Yahweh, but they were forced to leave the land that he [gave to them].’

21 So then I had tender regard for my holy Name, - Which the house of Israel had profaned, among the nations, where they had entered.

But I was concerned about my reputation, which the people of Israel had disgraced among the nations to which they were forced to go.

22 Therefore say thou to the house of Israel Thus saith My Lord Yahweh, Not for your sakes, am I working. O house of Israel, But for my holy Name which ye have profaned, among the nations where ye have entered;

Therefore, say to the Israeli people, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: You Israeli people, it is not for your sake that I am going to do these things. Instead, it is for the sake of my sacred reputation, which you have disgraced among the nations to which you were forced to go.

23 Therefore will I hallow my great Name, that hath been profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in their midst, -So shall the nations know that I am Yahweh Declareth My Lord, Yahweh, When I have hallowed myself in you, before their eyes.

I will show that my reputation is sacred, a reputation which you have disgraced among the nations to which you were forced to go. And when I show the nations that I am holy, the people of those nations will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].

24 Therefore will I take you from among the nations, And gather you out of all the lands, - And will bring you upon your own soil;

What I will do is to bring you back from those nations. I will gather you from all the countries [to which you were forced to go], and bring you back to your own land.

25 And I will throw upon you clean water and ye shall be clean, — From all your uncleannesses and from all your manufactured gods, will I cleanse you;

[It will be as though] [MET] I will sprinkle clean water on you, and then you will be clean. I will cause you to be cleansed from everything that has defiled you, and I will cause you to stop worshiping idols.

26 And I will give you a new heart, And a new spirit, will I put within you, -And I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh, And will give you a heart of flesh;

I will give you a completely new way of thinking [IDM]. I will enable you to stop being stubborn [IDM], and I will enable you to obey me from your inner beings [IDM].

27 And my spirit, will I put within you, And will cause That in my statutes, ye shall walk, And my regulations, ye shall observe, and do;

I will put my Spirit within you and enable you to carefully obey all my laws [DOU].

28 And ye shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers, - And ye shall become my people, And I will become your God;

You will again live in 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 out of all your uncleannesses, —And will call for the corn and will increase it, And will not lay upon you famine; And I will save you out of all your uncleannesses, —And will call for the corn and will increase it, And will not lay upon you famine;

I will free you from all your disgraceful behavior. I will cause your grain to be plentiful, and I will not send a famine to you again.

30 And I will multiply The fruit of the tree, and The increase of the field, — To the end that ye may not receive any more the reproach of famine among the nations.

I will cause your fruit trees to produce plenty of fruit and your ground to produce plenty of good crops, with the result that you will no longer be ridiculed by the people of other nations because of your not having enough food.

31 Then shall ye call to mind Your ways that were wicked, and Your doings that were not good, - And shall become loathsome in your own sight. For your iniquities and For your abominations.

When that happens, you will think about your previous evil behavior and wicked deeds, and you will (be very displeased with/hate) yourselves for your sins and the detestable things that you did.

32 Not for your sakes, am I working, Declareth My Lord Yahweh be it known to you, — Turn ye pale and then blush for your ways. O house of Israel.

But I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that I want you to know that it is not for your sake that I will do those things. You Israeli people ought to be ashamed of your behavior.

33 Thus saith My Lord, Yahweh, In the day when I cleanse you, from all your iniquities, Then will I cause the cities to be inhabited, And the waste places shall be built;

This is also what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: At the time that I forgive you for all the sins that you have committed, I will enable you to live in your towns again and to build houses where there are now only ruins.

34 And the land that was made desolate shall be tilled, — Whereas it was a desolation, before the eyes of every passer-by;

People who walk through your country will see that your land is again cultivated instead of (being desolate/having nothing growing in it).

35 And they shall say, This land that was made desolate hath become like the garden of Eden, - And the cities that were waste and deserted and thrown down, now fenced, are inhabited;

They will say, “This land that was ruined has become [very fertile/productive] like [SIM] the garden of Eden! The cities that were piles of ruins, empty and destroyed, now have walls around them, and people live in those cities.”

36 So shall the nations that may be left remaining round about you know that, I Yahweh— Have built that which was thrown down, and Have planted that which was made desolate, — I Yahweh, have spoken and performed.

When that happens, the people in the nations that are around you that still exist will know that it is I, Yahweh, who have enabled you to rebuild what was destroyed, and to again plant crops in the fields that had nothing growing in them. I, Yahweh, have said [that it will happen], and I will cause it to happen.

37 Thus, saith My Lord Yahweh, Even yet—for this, will I be prevailed upon by the house of Israel to work for them, — I will multiply them-Like a flock—with men:

This is also what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: Again I will heed what you Israeli people are pleading for me to do for you. I will cause your people to be as numerous as your sheep,

38 Like a flock of holy offerings Like the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, So, shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men, - And they shall know that, I, am Yahweh.

as numerous as the flocks of sheep that will be needed for offerings in Jerusalem during your regular festivals. The cities that are now ruined will be filled with people, and then you will know that I, Yahweh the Lord, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].’”