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.’”

The Valley of Dry Bones

37 The hand of the Lord was on me,^(AT) and he brought me out by his Spirit^(AU) and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. ² He led me all around them. There were a great many of them on the surface of the valley, and they were very dry. ³ Then he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I replied, “Lord God, only you know.”^(AV)

⁴ He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ⁵ This is what the Lord God says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live.^{(AW) 6} I will put tendons on you, make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you so that you come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”^(AX)

⁷ So I prophesied as I had been commanded. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ As I looked, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. ⁹ He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath,^[i] prophesy, son of man. Say to it: This is what the Lord God says: Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that they may live!” ^{(AY) 10} So I prophesied as he commanded me; the breath entered them,^(AZ) and they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army.

¹¹ Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.^(BA) Look how they say, ‘Our bones are dried up,^(BB) and our hope has perished;^(BC) we are cut off.’^{(BD) 12} Therefore, prophesy and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them,^(BE) my people, and lead you into the land of Israel. ¹³ You will know that I am the Lord, my people, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.^{(BF) 14} I will put my Spirit in you,^(BG) and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I am the Lord. I have spoken, and I will do it.^(BH) This is the declaration of the Lord.’”

The Reunification of Israel

¹⁵ The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁶ “Son of man, take a single stick and write on it:^(BI) Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him. Then take another stick and write on it: Belonging to Joseph—the stick of Ephraim—and all the house of Israel associated with him.^{(BJ) 17} Then join them together into a single stick so that they become one in your hand.^{(BK) 18} When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you explain to us what you mean by these things?’—^{(BL) 19} tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and put them together with the stick of Judah. I will make them into a single stick so that they become one in my hand.’

²⁰ “When the sticks you have written on are in your hand and in full view of the people,^{(BM) 21} tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I am going to take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone.^(BN) I will gather them from all around and bring them into their own land. ²² I will make them one nation in the land,^(BO) on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over all of them.^(BP) They will no longer be two nations and will no longer be divided into two kingdoms. ²³ They will not defile themselves anymore with their idols,^(BQ) their abhorrent things, and all their transgressions.^(BR) I will save them from all their apostasies by which^[j] they sinned,^(BS) and I will cleanse them. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.^{(BT) 24} My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them.^(BU) They will follow my ordinances, and keep my statutes and obey them.^(BV)

²⁵ “‘They will live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob,^(BW) where your ancestors lived. They will live in it forever with their children and grandchildren, and my servant David will be their prince forever.^{(BX) 26} I will make a covenant of peace with them;^(BY) it will be a permanent covenant^(BZ) with them. I will establish and multiply them and will set my sanctuary among them forever. ²⁷ My dwelling place will be with them;^(CA) I will be their God, and they will be my people.^{(CB) 28} When my sanctuary is among them forever, the nations will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel.’”^(CC)