Ezekiel 36

1 “Now you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, 'Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of Yahweh.

And thou, son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say: Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD.

2 The Lord Yahweh says this: The enemy has said about you, “Aha!” and “The ancient high places have become our possession.”'

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

3 Therefore prophesy and say, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: Because of your desolation and because of the attacks that came on you from all sides, you have become a possession of the other nations; you have been the subject of slanderous lips and tongues, and of people's stories.

therefore prophesy, and say: Thus saith the Lord GOD: Because, even because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the rest of the nations, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and the evil report of the people;

4 Therefore, mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord Yahweh: The Lord Yahweh says this to the mountains and the high hills, to the streambeds and valleys, to the uninhabited desolations and the forsaken cities that have become plunder and a subject of mocking for the other nations that surround them—

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 streams and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which are become a prey and derision to the residue of the nations that are round about;

5 therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: I have certainly spoken in the fire of my fury against the other nations, against Edom and all who took my land for themselves as a possession, against all those who had both joy in their heart and disdain in their spirit, as they seized my land that they might claim its pasturelands for themselves.'

therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Surely in the fire of My jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, that have appointed My land unto themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with disdain of soul, to cast it out for a prey;

6 Therefore, prophesy to the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the high hills, to the streambeds and to the valleys, 'the Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! In my fury and in my anger I am declaring this because you have borne the insults of nations.

therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains and to the hills, to the streams 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 nations;

7 Therefore, the Lord Yahweh says this: I myself will lift up my hand to swear that the nations that surround you will certainly carry their own shame.

therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: I have lifted up My hand: Surely the nations that are round about you, they shall bear their shame.

8 But you, mountains of Israel, you will grow branches and bear fruit for my people Israel, since they will soon come back to you.

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

9 For behold, I am for you, and I treat you with favor; you will be plowed and sown with seed.

For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown;

10 So I will multiply upon you the number of your people, even the whole house of Israel. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.

and I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded;

11 I will multiply man and beast on you mountains so that they will multiply and be fruitful. Then I will cause you to be inhabited as you previously were, and I will make you prosper more than you did in the past, for you will know that I am Yahweh.

and I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former estate, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

12 I will bring men, my people Israel, to walk on you. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will no longer cause their children to die.

Yea, 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 children.

13 The Lord Yahweh says this: Because they are saying to you, “You devour men, bereaving your nation of children,”

Thus saith the Lord GOD: Because they say unto you: Thou land art a devourer of men, and hast been a bereaver of thy nations;

14 therefore you will not consume people any longer, and you will no longer make your nation mourn their deaths. This is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.

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

15 Nor will I allow you to hear the insults of the nations any longer; you will no longer have to bear the shame of the peoples or cause your nation to fall—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.'”

neither will I suffer the shame of the nations any more to be heard against thee, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to stumble any more, saith the Lord GOD.'

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

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel inhabited their land, they defiled it with their ways and their deeds. Their ways were like the unclean menstruation of a woman before me.

'Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings; their way before Me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.

18 So I poured out my fury against them for the blood that they poured out on the land and for their pollution of it by their idols.

Wherefore I poured out My fury upon them for the blood which they had shed upon the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols;

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

and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries; according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.

20 Then they went to the nations, and wherever they went, they profaned my holy name when people said of them, 'Are these really the people of Yahweh? For they have been thrown out of his land.'

And when they came unto the nations, whither they came, they profaned My holy name; in that men said of them: These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of His land.

21 But I had compassion for my holy name that the house of Israel had defiled among the nations, when they went there.

But I had pity for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, whither they came.

22 Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: I am not doing this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations everywhere you have gone.

Therefore say unto the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord GOD: I do not this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, which ye have profaned among the nations, whither ye came.

23 For I will make my great name holy, which you have profaned among the nations—in the midst of the nations, you profaned it. Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—when you see that I am holy.

And I will sanctify My great name, which hath been profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from every land, and I will bring you to your land.

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

25 Then I will sprinkle pure water on you so you will be purified from all of your impurities, and I will purify you from all of your idols.

And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 I will give you a new heart and a new spirit in your innermost parts, and I will take away the heart of stone from your flesh. For I will give you a heart of flesh.

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.

27 I will set my Spirit in you and enable you to walk in my statutes and keep my decrees, so you will do them.

And I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep Mine ordinances, and do them.

28 Then you will inhabit the land that I gave to your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.

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.

29 For I will save you from all of your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and multiply it. I will no longer put famine upon you.

And I will save you from all your uncleannesses; and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.

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

And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations.

31 Then you will think of your wicked ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will show loathing on your faces because of your own sins and your disgusting deeds.

Then shall ye remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

32 I am not doing this for your sake—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—let this be known to you. So be ashamed and disgraced because of your ways, house of Israel.

Not for your sake do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you; be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

33 The Lord Yahweh says this: On the day that I purify you from all your iniquity, I will cause you to inhabit the cities and to rebuild the ruined places.

Thus saith the Lord GOD: In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded.

34 For you will plow the ruined land until it is no longer a ruin before the eyes of all who pass by.

And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all that passed by.

35 Then they will say, “This land was desolate, but it has become like the garden of Eden; the desolate cities and the uninhabited ruins that were torn down are now fortified and inhabited.”

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 fortified and inhabited.

36 Then the other nations around you will know that I am Yahweh, that I built up the ruins and replanted the abandoned places. I am Yahweh. I have declared it and I will do it.

Then the nations that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD have builded the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate; I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.

37 The Lord Yahweh says this: Again I will be asked by the house of Israel to do this for them, to increase them like a flock of people.

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.

38 Like the flock is set apart for sacrifices, like the flock in Jerusalem at her appointed feasts, so will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people and they will know that I am Yahweh.'”

As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed seasons, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am the LORD.'