Ezekiel 36

1 Also thou son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD:

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

2 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy had said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:

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 say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they have made [you] desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession to the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and [are] an infamy 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 the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that [are] around;

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 the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Edom, who have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all [their] heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.

6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:

7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up my hand, Surely the heathen that [are] about you, they shall bear their shame.

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, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.

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 behold, I [am] for you, and I will turn to 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 men upon you, all the house of Israel, [even] all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes 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 increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old states, and will do better [to you] than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD.

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 Yes, I will cause men to walk upon you, [even] my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them [of men].

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 the Lord GOD; Because they say to you, Thou [land] devourest men, and hast bereaved thy nations;

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 thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord GOD.

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

15 Neither will I cause [men] to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord GOD.

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 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.

“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 Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols [with which] they had polluted 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 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: 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 And when they entered among the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These [are] the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.

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 But I had pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.

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 to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not [this] for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.

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 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I [am] the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified 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 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

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 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, 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 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I 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 I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do [them].

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 that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be 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 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.

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, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.

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 remember your own evil ways, and your doings that [were] not good, and shall lothe yourselves 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 do I [this], saith the Lord GOD, be it known to you: be ashamed and confounded for your own 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 the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause [you] to dwell in the cities, and the wastes 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 desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed 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 desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities [are become] fortified, [and] 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 Then the heathen that are left around you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined [places], [and] plant that which was desolate: I the LORD have spoken [it], and I will do [it].

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 the Lord GOD; I will yet [for] this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do [it] for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.

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 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I [am] the LORD.

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].’”