Ezekiel 36

¹And you , son of man , prophesy to the mountains of Israel , and say , O mountains of Israel , hear the word of the Lord.

²Thus says the Lord God: Because the enemy said of you, Aha ! and, The ancient heights have become our possession ,

³therefore prophesy , and say , Thus says the Lord God: Precisely because they made you desolate and crushed you from all sides , so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations , and you became the talk and evil gossip of the people ,

⁴therefore , O mountains of Israel , hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills , the ravines and the valleys , the desolate wastes and the deserted cities , which have become a prey and derision to the rest of the nations all around ,

⁵therefore thus says the Lord God: Surely I have spoken in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom , who gave my land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt , that they might make its pasturelands a prey .

⁶Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel , and say to the mountains and hills , to the ravines and valleys , Thus says the Lord God: Behold , I have spoken in my jealous wrath , because you have suffered the reproach of the nations .

⁷Therefore thus says the Lord God: I swear that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer reproach .

⁸But you , O mountains of Israel , shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel , for they will soon come home.

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

¹⁰And I will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel , all of it. The cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt .

¹¹And I will multiply on you man and beast , and they shall multiply and be fruitful . And I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times , and will do more good to you than ever before . Then you will know that I am the Lord.

¹²I will let people walk on you, even my people Israel . And they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance , and you shall no longer bereave them of children.

¹³Thus says the Lord God: Because they say to you, You devour people , and you bereave your nation of children,

¹⁴therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord God.

¹⁵And I will not let you hear anymore the reproach of the nations , and you shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no longer cause your nation to stumble , declares the Lord God.

¹⁶The word of the Lord came to me:

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

¹⁸So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the land , for the idols with which they had defiled it.

¹⁹I scattered them among the nations , and they were dispersed through the countries . In accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them.

²⁰But when they came to the nations , wherever they came , they profaned my holy name , in that people said of them, These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land .

²¹But I had concern for my holy name , which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came .

²²Therefore say to the house of Israel , Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake , O house of Israel , that I am about to act , but for the sake of my holy name , which you have profaned among the nations to which you came .

²³And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name , which has been profaned among the nations , and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes .

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

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

²⁶And I will give you a new heart , and a new spirit I will put 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 cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules .

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

²⁹And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses . And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.

³⁰I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant , that you may never again suffer the disgrace 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 will act , declares the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways , O house of Israel .

³³Thus says the Lord God: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities , I will cause the cities to be inhabited , and the waste places shall be rebuilt .

³⁴And the land that was desolate shall be tilled , instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by .

³⁵And they will say , This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden , and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited .

³⁶Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the Lord; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate . I am the Lord; I have spoken , and I will do it.

³⁷Thus says the Lord God: This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: to increase their people like a flock .

³⁸Like the flock for sacrifices , like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts , so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of people . Then they will know that I am the Lord.