Ezekiel 36

1 Also thou sonne of man, prophesie vnto the mountaines of Israel, and say, Ye mountaines of Israel, heare 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 enemie hath sayde against you, Aha, euen the hye places of the world 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 prophesie, and say, Thus sayth the Lord God, Because that they haue made you desolate, and swallowed you vp on euery side, that ye might be a possession vnto the residue of the heathen, and ye are come vnto the lippes and tongues of men, and vnto the reproch 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 mountaines of Israel, heare the worde of the Lord God, Thus sayth the Lord God to the mountaines and to the hilles, to the riuers, and to the valleys, and to the waste, and desolate places, and to the cities that are forsaken: which are spoyled and had in derision of the residue of the heathen that are round about.

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 mine indignation haue I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which haue taken my lande for their possession, with the ioy of all their heart, and with despitefull mindes to cast it out for a pray.

6 Prophesie therfore vpon the land of Israel, and say vnto the mountaines, and to the hilles, to the riuers, and to the valleys, Thus sayth the Lord God, Behold, I haue spoken in mine indignation, and in my wrath, because yee haue suffered the shame of the heathen,

7 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, I haue lifted vp mine hand, surely the heathen that are about you, shall beare 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 you, O mountaines of Israel, yee shall shoote forth your branches, and bring foorth your fruite to my people of Israel: for they are ready 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 come vnto you, and I wil turne vnto you, and ye shalbe tilled and sowen.

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 wil multiply the men vpon you, euen all the house of Israel wholly, and the cities shalbe inhabited, and the desolate places shalbe builded.

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 wil multiply vpon you man and beast, and they shall encrease, and bring fruite, and I will cause you to dwell after your olde estate, and I will bestowe benefites vpon you more then at the first, 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 Yea, I wil cause men to walke vpon you, euen my people Israel, and they shall possesse you, and ye shalbe their inheritance, and ye shall no more henceforth depriue 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 sayth the Lord God, because they say vnto you, Thou land deuourest vp men, and hast bene a waster of thy people,

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 deuoure men no more, neither waste thy people henceforth, sayth the Lord God,

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

15 Neither will I cause men to heare in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou beare the reproche of the people any more, neither shalt cause thy folke to fal 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 Moreouer the word of the Lord came vnto me, saying,

Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

17 Sonne of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their owne lande, they defiled it by their owne wayes, and by their deedes: their way was before me as the filthinesse of the menstruous.

“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 Wherfore I powred my wrath vpon them, for the blood that they had shed in the land, and for their idoles, wherewith 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 for according to their wayes, and according to their deedes, I iudged 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 entred vnto the heathen, whither they went, they polluted mine holy Name, when they sayd of them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone 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 fauoured mine holy Name which the house of Israel had polluted 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 Therfore say vnto the house of Israel, Thus saith ye Lord God, I doe not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy Names sake, which yee polluted 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 wil sanctifie my great Name, which was polluted among the heathen, among whome you haue polluted it, and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, sayth the Lord God, when I shalbe 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 owne 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 wil I powre cleane water vpon you, and ye shalbe cleane: yea, from all your filthines, and from all your idoles wil I clense 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 newe heart also will I giue you, and a new spirit wil I put within you, and I will take away the stonie heart out of your body, and I will giue you an 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 spirite within you, and cause you to walke in my statutes, and ye shall keepe my iudgements 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 gaue to your fathers, and ye shalbe 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 deliuer you from all your filthinesse, and I will call for corne, and will increase it, and lay no famine vpon 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 For I will multiplie the fruite of the trees, and the increase of the fielde, that ye shall beare no more the reproch 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 owne wicked wayes, and your deedes that were not good, and shall iudge your selues worthie to haue bene destroyed 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 Be it knowen vnto you that I do not this for your sakes, sayth the Lord God: therefore, O ye house of Israel, be ashamed, and confounded for your owne wayes.

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 sayth the Lord God, What time as I shall haue clensed you from all your iniquities, I will cause you to dwel in the cities, and the desolate places shalbe builded.

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 shalbe tilled, whereas it lay waste 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 For they sayd, This waste land was like the garden of Eden, and these waste and desolate and ruinous cities were strong, and were 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 residue of the heathen that are left round about you, shall know that I the Lord builde the ruinous places, and plant the desolate places: I the Lord haue spoken it, and wil 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 sought of ye house of Israel, to performe it vnto them: I wil encrease them with men like a flocke.

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 flocke, as the flocke of Ierusalem in their solemne feastes, so shall the desolate cities be filled with flockes 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].’”