Ezekiel 36

1And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, hear the word of Yahweh.’

2Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the enemy said against you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The ancient heights have become our possession,’

3Therefore prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Because, indeed because they have made you desolate and have snapped at you from every side, so that you became a possession for the remnant of the nations, and you have come up on the lips of the tongue and in the slander of the people,

4Therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate ruins and to the abandoned cities that have become plunder and mockery to the remnant of the nations that are all around:

5Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Surely in the fire of my jealousy I have spoken against the remnant of the nations and against all Edom, who gave my land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with contempt of soul, in order to make its pastureland plunder.

6Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: Look, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because you have borne the disgrace of the nations.’

7Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I have lifted up my hand in oath that surely the nations that are around you will bear their disgrace.

8But you, mountains of Israel, shall put forth your branches and bear your fruit for my people Israel, for they are about to come.

9For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown.

10And I will multiply people upon you—all the house of Israel, all of it. The cities will be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt.

11And I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they will multiply and be fruitful; and I will settle you as in your former times, and I will do better for you than at your beginnings. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.

12And I will cause people—my people Israel—to walk upon you, and they will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will no longer bereave them.

13Thus says the Lord GOD: Because they say of you, ‘You devour people and have bereaved your nation,’

14Therefore you will no longer devour people, and you will no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord GOD.

15And I will no longer let you hear the disgrace of the nations, and you will no longer bear the reproach of the peoples, and you will no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord GOD.

16And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

17Son of man, when the house of Israel was dwelling on their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their deeds; their way before me was like the uncleanness of a menstruating woman.

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

19So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the lands; I judged them according to their ways and according to their deeds.

20And when they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of Yahweh, and yet they had to go out of his land.’

21But I had pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they had gone.

22Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake that I am acting, O house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.’

23I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh, declares the Lord GOD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.

24For I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land.

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

26And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

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

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

29I will save you from all your uncleannesses, and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring famine upon you.

30And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will no longer bear the reproach of famine among the nations.

31Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations.

32It is not for your sake that I am acting, declares the Lord GOD; let it be known to you. Be ashamed and humiliated because of your ways, O house of Israel.

33Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt.

34And the desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of all who pass by.

35And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the cities that were ruined, desolate, and torn down are fortified and inhabited.’

36Then the nations that remain around you will know that I, Yahweh, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, Yahweh, have spoken, and I will do it.

37Thus says the Lord GOD: Yet in this also I will let the house of Israel ask me to act for them: I will multiply them like a flock of men.

38Like the holy flock, like the flock of Jerusalem at her appointed feasts, so the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.