Chapter 36

The Mountains of Israel to Be Blessed

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

2 ‘Thus says the Lord 1God, “Because the enemy has spoken against you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The everlasting 2aheights have become our possession,’

3 therefore prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “1For good reason they have made you adesolate and crushed you from every side, that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations and you have been taken up in the 2btalk and the whispering of the people.” ’ ”

4 ‘Therefore, O amountains 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 wastes and to the forsaken cities which have become a bprey and a derision to the rest of the nations which are round about,

5 therefore thus says the Lord God, “Surely in the fire of My ajealousy I have spoken against the brest of the nations, and against all Edom, who 1appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted cjoy and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for a prey.”

6 ‘Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because you have aendured the insults of the nations.’

7 “Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘I have 1sworn that surely the nations which are around you will themselves endure their insults.

8 ‘But you, O mountains of Israel, you will aput forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come.

9 ‘For, behold, I am for you, and I will aturn to you, and you will be bcultivated and sown.

10 ‘I will multiply men on you, aall the house of Israel, all of it; and the bcities will be inhabited and the waste places will be rebuilt.

11 ‘I will multiply on you man and beast; and they will increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as you were aformerly and will 1treat you bbetter than at the first. Thus you will know that I am the Lord.

12 ‘Yes, I will cause amen—My people Israel—to walk on you and possess you, so that you will become their binheritance and never again cbereave them of children.’

13 “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Because they say to you, “You are a adevourer of men and have bereaved your 1nation of children,”

14 therefore you will no longer devour men and no longer bereave your nation of children,’ declares the Lord God.

15 “I will not let you hear ainsults from the nations anymore, nor will you bear bdisgrace from the peoples any longer, nor will you cause your nation to cstumble any longer,” declares the Lord God.’ ”

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

17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel was living in their own land, they adefiled it by their ways and their deeds; their way before Me was like bthe uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.

18 “Therefore I apoured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols.

19 “Also I ascattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands. bAccording to their ways and their deeds I judged them.

20 “When they came to the nations where they went, they aprofaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the bpeople of the Lord; yet they have come out of His land.’

21 “But I had 1concern for My aholy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.

Israel to Be Renewed for His Name’s Sake

22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “It is anot for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.

23 “I will avindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the bnations will know that I am the Lord,” declares the Lord God, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.

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

25 “Then I will asprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your bfilthiness and from all your cidols.

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

27 “I will aput My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

28 “You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be aMy people, and I will be your God.

29 “Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I awill not 1bring a famine on you.

30 “I will amultiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations.

31 “Then you will aremember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations.

32 “I am not doing this afor your sake,” declares the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!”

33 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the acities to be inhabited, and the bwaste places will be rebuilt.

34 “The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by.

35 “They will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the agarden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’

36 “Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the Lord, have spoken and awill do it.”

37 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them: I will increase their men like a flock.

38 “Like the aflock 1for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the waste cities be filled with bflocks of men. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”

Chapter 37

Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones

1 The ahand of the Lord was upon me, and He bbrought me out 1by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the cvalley; and it was full of bones.

2 He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry.

3 He said to me, “Son of man, acan these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord 1God, bYou know.”

4 Again He said to me, “aProphesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, bhear the word of the Lord.’

5 “Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause 1abreath to enter you that you may come to life.

6 ‘I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will aknow that I am the Lord.’ ”

7 So I prophesied aas I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a 1noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

8 And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.

9 Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and abreathe on these slain, that they bcome to life.” ’ ”

10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the abreath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an bexceedingly great army.

The Vision Explained

11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the awhole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bbones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are 1completely ccut off.’

12 “Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will open your graves and acause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.

13 “Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people.

14 “I will aput My 1Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,” declares the Lord.’ ”

Reunion of Judah and Israel

15 The word of the Lord came again to me saying,

16 “And you, son of man, take for yourself aone stick and write on it, ‘For bJudah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For cJoseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’

17 “Then ajoin them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.

18 “When the sons of your people speak to you saying, ‘Will you not declare to us awhat you mean by these?’

19 say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.” ’

20 “The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.

21 “Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will atake the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;

22 and I will make them aone nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and bone king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms.

23 “They will ano longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but bI will deliver them from all their 1dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their