Ezequiel 36

Restoration of Israel’s Mountains

1 "Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord.  * 36:1 Ezk 6:22 This is what the Lord God says: Because the enemy has said about you, "Aha!  * 36:2 Ezk 25:3; 26:2 The ancient heights  * 36:2 Dt 32:13 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,  * 36:3 Ezk 35:134 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  * 36:4 Ezk 34:8,28 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,  * 36:5 Dt 4:24 who took  * 36:5 Lit gave my land as their own possession with wholehearted rejoicing and utter contempt  * 36:5 Ezk 35:10,15 so that its pastureland became  * 36:5 Or contempt, to empty it of; Hb obscure 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  * 36:6 Ps 74:10; 123:3–4 because you have endured the insults of the nations. 7 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: I swear  * 36:7 Lit lift up my hand that the nations all around you will endure their own insults.  * 36:7 Ezk 20:5

8 " ‘You, mountains of Israel, will produce your branches  * 36:8 Ezk 17:23 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,  * 36:9 Lv 26:9 and you will be tilled and sown. 10 I will fill you with people, with the whole house of Israel in its entirety.  * 36:10 Ezk 37:21–22 The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. 11 I will fill you with people and animals,  * 36:11 Jr 33:12 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.  * 36:11 Is 51:312 I will cause people, my people Israel, to walk on you; they will possess you,  * 36:12 Ob 17 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,"  * 36:13 Nm 13:3214 therefore, you will no longer devour people and deprive your nation of children.  * 36:14 Alt Hb tradition reads and cause your nation to stumble 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;  * 36:15 Ezk 34:29 you will no longer cause your nation to stumble.  * 36:15 Some Hb mss, Tg read no longer bereave your nation of children 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.  * 36:17 Jr 2:7 Their behavior before me was like menstrual impurity.  * 36:17 Lv 15:1918 So I poured out my wrath  * 36:18 Ezk 16:36; 22:3 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.  * 36:19 Dt 28:64; Ezk 22:15 I judged them according to their conduct and actions.  * 36:19 Rm 2:620 When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name,  * 36:20 Is 52:5; Rm 2:24 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,  * 36:21 Is 48:9; Ezk 20:44 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,  * 36:22 Dt 9:5 house of Israel, but for my holy name,  * 36:22 Ps 115:1; Is 43:25; 48:11; Ezk 20:9; Dn 9:18–19 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.  * 36:23 Ezk 20:41; 38:23; 39:7,25

24 " ‘For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.  * 36:24 Ezk 34:13; 37:2125 I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean.  * 36:25 Ps 51:7; Heb 9:13,19; 10:22 I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.  * 36:25 Jr 33:826 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you;  * 36:26 Ezk 18:31; Jl 2:28 I will remove your heart of stone  * 36:26 Lit stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  * 36:26 Dt 30:6; Ezk 11:19; 2Co 3:327 I will place my Spirit within you  * 36:27 Ezk 37:14 and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances.  * 36:27 Jr 24:7; 31:33; 32:4028 You will live in the land that I gave your ancestors;  * 36:28 Ezk 37:23–25 you will be my people, and I will be your God.  * 36:28 Ezk 34:3029 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.  * 36:29–30 Ezk 34:27,2930 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,  * 36:31 Ezk 16:61–63 and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and detestable practices.  * 36:31 Ezk 6:9; 20:4332 It is not for your sake that I will act  * 36:32 Dt 9:5  — 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.  * 36:33 Ezk 36:1034 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.  * 36:35 Is 51:3; Jl 2:3 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.  * 36:36 Ezk 17:24

37 " ‘This is what the Lord God says: I will respond to the house of Israel and do this for them:  * 36:37 Ezk 14:3 I will multiply them in number like a flock.  * 36:37 Lit flock of people38 So the ruined cities will be filled with a flock of people, just as Jerusalem  * 36:38 2Ch 35:7–9 is filled with a flock of sheep for sacrifice  * 36:38 Lit as the consecrated flock, as the flock of Jerusalem during its appointed festivals. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’ "