Ezekiel 36
1 You human, prophesy about the mountains in Israel. Say to them, “You mountains in Israel, listen to what Yahweh says.
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 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!’”
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 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.
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 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.
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;
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:
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, 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.
therefore I will lift up my hand against the nations that are round about you; they shall bear their reproach.
8 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].
But your grapes and your fruits, O mountains of Israel, shall my people eat; for they are hoping to come.
9 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.
For, behold, I am toward you, and I will have respect to you, and you shall be tilled and sown:
10 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.
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 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].
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 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.
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 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.
Thus says the Lord God: Because they said to you, You [land] devour men, and have been bereaved of your nation;
14 Therefore, I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that no longer will that happen.
therefore you shall no more devour men, and you shall no more bereave your nation, says the Lord God.
15 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.”
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 Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
17 “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.
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 severely punished [MTY] them, because they had murdered [MTY] many people and because they had defiled the land by [worshiping] idols there.
So I poured out my wrath upon them:
19 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].
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 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].’
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 was concerned about my reputation, which the people of Israel had disgraced among the nations to which they were forced to go.
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 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.
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 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].
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 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.
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 [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.
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 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].
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 I will put my Spirit within you and enable you to carefully obey all my laws [DOU].
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 You will again live in the land that I gave to your ancestors. You will be my people, and I will be your God.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 People who walk through your country will see that your land is again cultivated instead of (being desolate/having nothing growing in it).
and the desolate land shall be cultivated, whereas it was desolate in the eyes of every one that passed by.
35 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.”
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 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.
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 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,
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 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].’”
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.
