Old Testament · Ezekiel

Ezekiel 36

A Prophecy to the Mountains of Israel

1And you, son of man^a, 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 has said against you, Aha! and, The everlasting high places have become ours for a possession; 3therefore prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord GOD: Because, even because they made you desolate and swallowed you up from every side, that you might become a possession to the rest of the nations, and you are taken up on the lip of the tongue and the evil report of the people; 4therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains and to the hills, to the streams and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the forsaken cities which have become a prey and a derision to the rest of the nations that are round about; 5therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Surely in the fire of my jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who have given my land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all the heart, with disdain of soul^b, for the sake of its open land as a prey;

6therefore prophesy concerning the ground^c of Israel, and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the streams and to the valleys: Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because you have borne the shame of the nations;

7therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I have lifted up my hand—surely the nations that are round about you, they shall bear their shame. 8But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and bear your fruit for my people Israel; for they are near to come.

9For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled^d and sown. 10And I will multiply man upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built. 11And I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, and I will do better than at your beginnings; and you shall know that I am the LORD.

12And I will cause man to walk upon you, my people Israel, and they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no more bereave them of children.

13Thus says the Lord GOD: Because they say to you, You devour man, and you have been a bereaver of your nations; 14therefore you shall no more devour man, and you shall no more bereave your nations—declaration of the Lord GOD. 15And I will no more cause the shame of the nations to be heard against you, and the reproach of the peoples you shall bear no more, and you shall no more cause your nations to stumble—declaration of the Lord GOD.

A New Heart and a New Spirit

(Romans 8:9–11; Galatians 5:16–26)

16And the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 17Son of man, the house of Israel were dwelling on their ground, and they defiled it by their way and by their doings; like the uncleanness of a menstruous woman was their way before me. 18And I poured out my fury upon them for the blood which they shed upon the land, and for their idols with which they defiled it.

19And I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the lands; according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. 20And when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, when it was said of them: These are the people of the LORD, and they have gone out of his land. 21But I had pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they came.

22Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord GOD: Not for your sake do I act, O house of Israel, but for my holy name which you have profaned among the nations wherever you came. 23And I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD—declaration of the Lord GOD—when I am sanctified in you before their eyes.

24And I will take you from the nations, and gather you out of all the lands, and bring you to your own ground. 25And I will sprinkle clean water upon 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^e I will put within you; and I will remove the heart of stone out of your flesh^f, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 27And my spirit I will put within you, and I will cause you to walk in my statutes^g, and you shall keep my judgments^h and do them.

28And you shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29And I will save you from all your uncleannesses; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not lay famine upon you. 30And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you shall no more receive the reproach of famine among the nations.

31And you shall remember your evil ways and your doings that were not good, and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. 32Not for your sake do I act—declaration of the Lord GOD—let it be known to you; be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

33Thus says 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 built. 34And the desolate land shall be tilled, instead of being a desolation in the sight of all who pass by. 35And they shall say: This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.

36And the nations that are left round about you shall know that I am the LORD—I have built the ruined places, I have planted that which was desolate; I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.

37Thus says the Lord GOD: Yet for this I will be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will multiply them like a flock of men. 38Like the flock of holy things, like the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed times (moedim), so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am the LORD.