Ezekiel 36
1 You human, prophesy about the mountains in Israel. Say to them, “You mountains in Israel, listen to what Yahweh says.
But thou, son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear ye 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 hath said the Lord Eternal, Because the enemy hath said regarding you, Aha, even the ancient high-places are become ours as a possession:
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 hath said the Lord Eternal, Because, even because men have made you desolate, and sought to swallow you up on every side, that ye might become a possession unto the residue of the nations, and ye are taken up as a talk for tongues, and an evil report of the people:
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, O mountains of Israel, hear ye the word of the Lord Eternal, Thus hath said the Lord Eternal to the mountains, and to the hills, to the ravines, and to the valleys, to the desolate ruins, and to the cities that are forsaken, which are become a prey and derision to the residue of the nations that are round about:
Therefore thus hath said the Lord Eternal, Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Idumea, that have appropriated my land unto themselves as a possession with the joy of all their heart, with derision in their soul, in order to drive it out that it may be for a prey.
Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the ravines, and to the valleys, Thus hath said the Lord Eternal, Behold, In my zealousness and in my fury have I spoken, because ye have borne the reproach of the nations:
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 thus hath said the Lord Eternal, I have indeed lifted up my hand, that the nations who are round about you— these shall bear their shame.
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 ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall send forth your boughs, and your fruit shall ye bear for my people Israel, for they are near at hand 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 will be for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and ye shall be 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 upon you men, all the house of Israel— altogether; and the cities shall be inhabited again, and the ruins shall be rebuilt;
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 upon you men and beast, and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your old estates, and will do more good unto you than at your beginnings: and ye 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.
Yea, I will cause to walk upon you men, even my people Israel, and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be unto them as an inheritance, and thou shalt not any more henceforth cast them out.
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 hath said the Lord Eternal, Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast been one that hath ever cast out thy nations:
14 Therefore, I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that no longer will that happen.
Therefore shalt thou not devour up men any more, and thy nations shalt thou not cast out any more, saith the Lord Eternal.
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 I will not let be heard against thee any more the reproach of the nations, and the disgrace of the people shalt thou not bear any more, and thy nations shalt thou not cast out any more, saith the Lord Eternal.
16 Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
And the word of the Lord came unto 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, when they dwelt in their own land, defiled it through their way and through their doings: like the uncleanness of a woman in her separation was their way before me.
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.
And I poured out my fury over them because of the blood that they had shed in the land, and because through their idols they had polluted it;
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 scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings did I judge them.
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 when they were come unto the nations, whither they were gone, they profaned my holy name; because they said of them, These are the people of the Lord, and out of his land are they gone forth.
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 had pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, whither they were gone.
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 unto the house of Israel, Thus hath said the Lord Eternal, Not for your sake do I this, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name, which ye have profaned among the nations, whither ye are gone.
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 ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord Eternal, when I will be sanctified through you before your 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 from among the nations, and I will gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you unto 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 upon you clean water, and ye shall be clean: from all your impurities, and from all your idols, will I 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 a new spirit will I put within you; and I will remove the heart of stone out of your body, and I 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 my spirit I will put within you, and I will cause that you shall walk in my statutes, and that my ordinances ye shall keep, 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 ye shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be unto me for a people, and I truly will be unto you as 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 kinds of your impurities; and I will call unto the corn, and increase it, and I will not lay 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 products of the field: in order that ye may receive no more reproach on account 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.
Then shall ye remember your ways that they were evil, and your doings that were not good; and ye shall loathe yourselves on account of your iniquities and on account of 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 sake do I this, saith the Lord Eternal, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded because of 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 hath said the Lord Eternal, On the day of my cleansing you from all your iniquities, when I cause the cities to be inhabited, and when the ruins are built up,
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 when the desolate land is tilled, instead that it was a waste before the eyes of every passer 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.”
Then shall they say, This land, that was desolate, is become like the garden of 'Eden; and the cities that were ruined, and desolate, and broken down, are become fortified, and 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 that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord have built up the broken-down [places], have planted the desolate [land]: I the Lord have spoken this, and have done 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 hath said the Lord Eternal, Also in this will I yet suffer myself to be entreated of by the house of Israel, to do it for them, I will increase them with men like flocks [in multitude].
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 the flocks of the holy things, as the flocks of Jerusalem on her appointed feasts, so shall the ruined cities be full of flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
