Ezekiel 36

1 You, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, “You mountains of Israel, hear the LORD’s word.

And you, son of man, be a prophet about the mountains of Israel, and say, You mountains of Israel, give ear to the word of the Lord:

2 The Lord GOD says: ‘Because the enemy has said against you, “Aha!” and, “The ancient high places are ours in possession!”’

This is what the Lord has said: Because your hater has said against you, Aha! and, The old waste places are our heritage, we have taken them:

3 therefore prophesy, and say, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Because, even because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that you might be a possession to the residue of the nations, and you are taken up in the lips of talkers, and the evil report of the people;”

For this cause be a prophet, and say, This is what the Lord has said: Because, even because they have been glad over you and put you to shame on every side, because you have become a heritage for the rest of the nations, and you are taken up on the lips of talkers and in the evil talk of the people:

4 therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD: The Lord GOD says to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which have become a prey and derision to the residue of the nations that are all around;

For this reason, you mountains of Israel, give ear to the word of the Lord; this is what the Lord has said to the mountains and to the hills, to the streams and to the valleys, to the unpeopled wastes and to the towns where no one is living, from which the goods have been taken and which have been put to shame by the rest of the nations who are round about:

5 therefore the Lord GOD says: “Surely in the fire of my jealousy I have spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, that have appointed my land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with despite of soul, to cast it out for a prey.”’

For this cause the Lord has said: Truly, in the heat of my bitter feeling I have said things against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who have taken my land as a heritage for themselves with the joy of all their heart, and with bitter envy of soul have made attacks on it:

6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and tell the mountains, the hills, the watercourses and the valleys, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because you have borne the shame of the nations.”

For this cause be a prophet about the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the streams and to the valleys, This is what the Lord has said: Truly, in my bitter feeling and in my wrath I have said these things, because you have undergone the shame of the nations:

7 Therefore the Lord GOD says: “I have sworn, ‘Surely the nations that are around you will bear their shame.’

For this cause the Lord has said, See, I have taken an oath that the nations which are round about you are themselves to undergo the shame which they have put on you.

8 “‘“But you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot out your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come.

But you, O mountains of Israel, will put out your branches and give your fruit to my people Israel; for they are ready to come.

9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will come to you, and you will be tilled and sown.

For truly I am for you, and I will be turned to you, and you will be ploughed and planted:

10 I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, even all of it. The cities will be inhabited and the waste places will be built.

And I will let your numbers be increased, all the children of Israel, even all of them: and the towns will be peopled and the waste places will have buildings;

11 I will multiply man and animal on you. They will increase and be fruitful. I will cause you to be inhabited as you were before, and you will do better than at your beginnings. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

Man and beast will be increased in you, and they will have offspring and be fertile: I will make you thickly peopled as you were before, and will do more for you than at the first: and you will be certain that I am the Lord.

12 Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even my people Israel. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will never again bereave them of their children.”

Yes, I will have you walked on by the feet of men, even my people Israel; they will have you for a heritage and you will be theirs, and never again will you take their children from them.

13 “‘The Lord GOD says: “Because they say to you, ‘You are a devourer of men, and have been a bereaver of your nation;’

This is what the Lord has said: Because they say to you, You, O land, are the destruction of men, causing loss of children to your nation;

14 therefore you shall devour men no more, and not bereave your nation any more,” says the Lord GOD.

For this reason you will no longer take the lives of men and will never again be the cause of loss of children to your nation, says the Lord.

15 “I won’t let you hear the shame of the nations any more. You won’t bear the reproach of the peoples any more, and you won’t cause your nation to stumble any more,” says the Lord GOD.’”

And I will not let the shaming of the nations come to your ears, and no longer will you be looked down on by the peoples, says the Lord.

16 Moreover the LORD’s word came to me, saying,

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and by their deeds. Their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.

Son of man, when the children of Israel were living in their land, they made it unclean by their way and their acts: their way before me was as when a woman is unclean at the time when she is kept separate.

18 Therefore I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols.

So I let loose my wrath on them because of those whom they had violently put to death in the land, and because they had made it unclean with their images:

19 I scattered them amongst the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. I judged them according to their way and according to their deeds.

And I sent them in flight among the nations and wandering through the countries: I was their judge, rewarding them for their way and their acts.

20 When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name, in that men said of them, ‘These are the LORD’s people, and have left his land.’

And when they came among the nations, wherever they went, they made my holy name unclean, when it was said of them, These are the people of the Lord who have gone out from his land.

21 But I had respect for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned amongst the nations where they went.

But I had pity for my holy name which the children of Israel had made unclean wherever they went.

22 “Therefore tell the house of Israel, ‘The Lord GOD says: “I don’t do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned amongst the nations where you went.

For this cause say to the children of Israel, This is what the Lord has said: I am doing this, not because of you, O children of Israel, but because of my holy name, which you have made unclean among the nations wherever you went.

23 I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned amongst the nations, which you have profaned amongst them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD,” says the Lord GOD, “when I am proven holy in you before their eyes.

And I will make holy my great name which has been made unclean among the nations, which you have made unclean among them; and it will be clear to the nations that I am the Lord, says the Lord, when I make myself holy in you before their eyes.

24 “‘“For I will take you from amongst the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.

For I will take you out from among the nations, and get you together from all the countries, and take you into your land.

25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.

And I will put clean water on you so that you may be clean: from all your unclean ways and from all your images I will make you clean.

26 I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

And I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you: I will take away the heart of stone from your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh.

27 I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. You will keep my ordinances and do them.

And I will put my spirit in you, causing you to be guided by my rules, and you will keep my orders and do them.

28 You will dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. You will be my people, and I will be your God.

So that you may go on living in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you will be to me a people, and I will be to you a God.

29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you.

And I will make you free from all your unclean ways: and at my voice the grain will come up and be increased, and I will not let you be short of food.

30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine amongst the nations.

And I will make the tree give more fruit and the field fuller produce, and no longer will you be shamed among the nations for need of food.

31 “‘“Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

And at the memory of your evil ways and your wrongdoings, you will have bitter hate for yourselves because of your evil-doings and your disgusting ways, O children of Israel.

32 I don’t do this for your sake,” says the Lord GOD. “Let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel.”

Not because of you am I doing it, says the Lord; let it be clear to you, and be shamed and made low because of your ways, O children of Israel.

33 “‘The Lord GOD says: “In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited and the waste places will be built.

This is what the Lord has said: In the day when I make you clean from all your evil-doings I will let the towns be peopled and there will be building on the waste places.

34 The land that was desolate will be tilled instead of being a desolation in the sight of all who passed by.

And the land which was waste will be farmed, in place of being a waste in the eyes of everyone who went by.

35 They will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The waste, desolate, and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’

And they will say, This land which was waste has become like the garden of Eden; and the towns which were unpeopled and wasted and pulled down are walled and peopled.

36 Then the nations that are left around you will know that I, the LORD, have built the ruined places and planted that which was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken it, and I will do it.”

Then the rest of the nations round about you will be certain that I the Lord am the builder of the places which were pulled down and the planter of that which was waste: I the Lord have said it, and I will do it.

37 “‘The Lord GOD says: “For this, moreover, I will be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock.

This is what the Lord has said: The children of Israel will again make prayer to me for this, that I may do it for them; I will make them increased with men like a flock.

38 As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so the waste cities will be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”

Like sheep for the offerings, like the sheep of Jerusalem at her fixed feasts, so the unpeopled towns will be made full of men: and they will be certain that I am the Lord.