Ezekiel 36

Restoration of Israel’s Mountains

36“Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. ^p2This is what the Lord God says: Because the enemy has said about you, ‘Good! ^qThe ancient heights ^rhave become our possession,’ ³therefore, prophesy and say: This is what the Lord God says: Because they have made you desolate and have trampled you from every side, so that you became a possession for the rest of the nations and an object of people’s gossip and slander, ^s4therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. This is what the Lord God says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and abandoned cities, which have become plunder ^tand a mockery to the rest of the nations all around.

⁵“This is what the Lord God says: Certainly in My burning zeal I speak against the rest of the nations and all of Edom, ^uwho took ^vMy land as their own possession with wholehearted rejoicing and utter contempt ^wso that its pastureland became ^xplunder. ⁶Therefore, prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: This is what the Lord God says: Look, I speak in My burning zeal ^ybecause you have endured the insults of the nations. ⁷Therefore this is what the Lord God says: I swear ^zthat the nations all around you will endure their own insults. ^a

⁸“You, mountains of Israel, will produce your branches ^band bear your fruit for My people Israel, since their arrival is near. ⁹Look! I am on your side; I will turn toward you, ^cand you will be tilled and sown. ¹⁰I will fill you with people, with the whole house of Israel in its entirety. ^dThe cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. ¹¹I will fill you with people and animals, ^eand they will increase and be fruitful. I will make you inhabited as you once were and make you better off than you were before. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. ^f12I will cause people, My people Israel, to walk on you; they will possess you, ^gand you will be their inheritance. You will no longer deprive them of their children.

¹³“This is what the Lord God says: Because people are saying to you, ‘You devour men and deprive your nation of children,’ ^h14therefore, you will no longer devour men and deprive your nation of children.” ⁱThis is the declaration of the Lord God. ¹⁵“I will no longer allow the insults of the nations to be heard against you, and you will not have to endure the reproach of the peoples anymore; ^jyou will no longer cause your nation to stumble.” ^kThis is the declaration of the Lord God.

Restoration of Israel’s People

¹⁶The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁷“Son of man, while the house of Israel lived in their land, they defiled it with their conduct and actions. ^lTheir behavior before Me was like menstrual impurity. ^m18So I poured out My wrath ⁿon them because of the blood they had shed on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols. ¹⁹I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered among the countries. ^oI judged them according to their conduct and actions. ^p20When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, ^qbecause it was said about them, ‘These are the people of Yahweh, yet they had to leave His land in exile.’ ²¹Then I had concern for My holy name, ^rwhich the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they went.

²²“Therefore, say to the house of Israel: This is what the Lord God says: It is not for your sake that I will act, ^shouse of Israel, but for My holy name, ^twhich you profaned among the nations where you went. ²³I will honor the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am Yahweh”—the declaration of the Lord God—“when I demonstrate My holiness through you in their sight. ^u

²⁴“For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. ^v25I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. ^wI will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. ^x26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; ^yI will remove your heart of stone ^zand give you a heart of flesh. ^a27I will place My Spirit within you ^band cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances. ^c28Then you will live in the land that I gave your fathers; ^dyou will be My people, and I will be your God. ^e29I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful, and will not bring famine on you. ^f30I will also make the fruit of the trees and the produce of the field plentiful, so that you will no longer experience reproach among the nations on account of famine.

³¹“Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, ^gand you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and detestable practices. ^h32It is not for your sake that I will act” ⁱ—the declaration of the Lord God—“let this be known to you. Be ashamed and humiliated because of your ways, house of Israel!

³³“This is what the Lord God says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt. ^j34The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of everyone who passes by. ³⁵Then they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. ^kThe cities that were once ruined, desolate, and destroyed are now fortified and inhabited.’ ³⁶Then the nations that remain around you will know that I, Yahweh, have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I, Yahweh, have spoken and I will do it. ^l

³⁷“This is what the Lord God says: I will respond to the house of Israel and do this for them: ^mI will multiply them in number like a flock. ⁿ³⁸So the ruined cities will be filled with a flock of people, just as the flock of sheep for sacrifice ^ois filled ^pin Jerusalem during its appointed festivals. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”