Ezekiel 36
Christian Standard Bible
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.(A) 2 This is what the Lord God says: Because the enemy has said about you, “Aha!(B) The ancient heights(C) have become our possession,”’ 3 therefore, 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,(D) 4 therefore, 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(E) and 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,(F) who took[a] my land as their own possession with wholehearted rejoicing and utter contempt(G) so that its pastureland became[b] plunder. 6 Therefore, prophesy concerning Israel’s land, 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(H) because you have endured the insults of the nations. 7 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: I swear[c] that the nations all around you will endure their own insults.(I)
8 “‘You, mountains of Israel, will produce your branches(J) and bear your fruit for my people Israel, since their arrival is near. 9 Look! I am on your side; I will turn toward you,(K) and you will be tilled and sown. 10 I will fill you with people, with the whole house of Israel in its entirety.(L) The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. 11 I will fill you with people and animals,(M) and 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 the Lord.(N) 12 I will cause people, my people Israel, to walk on you; they will possess you,(O) and you will be their inheritance. You will no longer deprive them of their children.
13 “‘This is what the Lord God says: Because some are saying to you, “You devour people and deprive your nation of children,”(P) 14 therefore, you will no longer devour people and deprive your nation of children.[d] This 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;(Q) you will no longer cause your nation to stumble.[e] This is the declaration of the Lord God.’”
Restoration of Israel’s People
16 The 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.(R) Their behavior before me was like menstrual impurity.(S) 18 So I poured out my wrath(T) on them because of the blood they had shed on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered among the countries.(U) I judged them according to their conduct and actions.(V) 20 When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name,(W) because it was said about them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, yet they had to leave his land in exile.’ 21 Then I had concern for my holy name,(X) which 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,(Y) house of Israel, but for my holy name,(Z) which you profaned among the nations where you went. 23 I 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 the Lord—this is the declaration of the Lord God—when I demonstrate my holiness through you in their sight.(AA)
24 “‘For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.(AB) 25 I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean.(AC) I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.(AD) 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you;(AE) I will remove your heart of stone[f] and give you a heart of flesh.(AF) 27 I will place my Spirit within you(AG) and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances.(AH) 28 You will live in the land that I gave your ancestors;(AI) you will be my people, and I will be your God.(AJ) 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful, and I will not bring famine on you.(AK) 30 I 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 “‘You will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good,(AL) and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and detestable practices.(AM) 32 It is not for your sake that I will act(AN)—this is 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.(AO) 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of everyone who passes by. 35 They will say, “This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden.(AP) The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and demolished are now fortified and inhabited.” 36 Then the nations that remain around you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt what was demolished and have replanted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken and I will do it.(AQ)
37 “‘This is what the Lord God says: I will respond to the house of Israel and do this for them:(AR) I will multiply them in number like a flock.[g] 38 So the ruined cities will be filled with a flock of people, just as Jerusalem(AS) is filled with a flock of sheep for sacrifice[h] during its appointed festivals. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”
Footnotes
- 36:5 Lit gave
- 36:5 Or contempt, to empty it of; Hb obscure
- 36:7 Lit lift up my hand
- 36:14 Alt Hb tradition reads and cause your nation to stumble
- 36:15 Some Hb mss, Tg read no longer bereave your nation of children
- 36:26 Lit stone from your flesh
- 36:37 Lit flock of people
- 36:38 Lit as the consecrated flock, as the flock of Jerusalem
Ezekiel 36
King James Version
36 Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord:
2 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, Thus saith the Lord God; Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people:
4 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 rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about;
5 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.
6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, 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 heathen:
7 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame.
8 But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.
9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown:
10 And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:
11 And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
12 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 men.
13 Thus saith the Lord God; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations:
14 Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord God.
15 Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord God.
16 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.
18 Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it:
19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.
20 And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land.
21 But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.
22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.
23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 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 an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
28 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 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.
30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.
31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.
33 Thus saith the Lord God; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.
34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.
35 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 become fenced, and are inhabited.
36 Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it.
37 Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.
38 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
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