Ezekiel 36

Revised Geneva Translation

36 “Also, you son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, ‘You mountains of Israel! Hear the Word of the LORD!

² ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because the enemy has said against you, ‘Aha! Even the high places of the world are ours in possession!’

³ “Therefore prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because they have made you desolate and swallowed you up on every side, so that you might be a possession for the rest of the heathen; and you have come to the lips and tongues and to the reproach of the people,”

⁴ ‘therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the Word of the Lord GOD. Thus says the Lord GOD — to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys and to the waste, desolate places and to the cities that are forsaken, which have been plundered and had in derision by the rest of the heathen who are all around—

⁵ “therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely, in the fire of My indignation, I have spoken against the rest of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which has taken My land for their possession—with the joy of all heart and with spiteful minds—to cast it out for a prey.

⁶ “Prophesy, therefore, upon the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I have spoken in My indignation and in My wrath. Because you have suffered the shame of the heathen,

⁷ “therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I have lifted up My Hand; surely the heathen who are around you shall bear their shame.

⁸ “But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and bring forth your fruit to My people of Israel; for they are ready to come.

⁹ “For behold, I come to you; and I will turn to you; and you shall be tilled and sown.

¹⁰ “And I will multiply the men upon you, all the House of Israel wholly. And the cities shall be inhabited; and the desolate places shall be built.

¹¹ “And I will multiply man and beast upon you. And they shall increase and bring fruit. And I will cause you to dwell as you once did; and I will bestow benefits upon you more than at first. And you shall know that I am the LORD.

¹² “Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, My people Israel, and they shall possess you; and you shall be their inheritance; and you shall henceforth no longer deprive them.”

¹³ ‘Thus says the LORD: “Because they say to you, ‘You devour men and have wasted your people,’

¹⁴ “therefore you shall no longer devour men or henceforth waste your people,” says the Lord GOD.’

¹⁵ “Nor will I allow men to hear the shaming of the heathen anymore. Nor shall you bear the reproach of the people anymore. Nor shall you cause your people to fall anymore,” says the Lord GOD.’”

¹⁶ Moreover, the Word of the LORD came to me, saying:

¹⁷ “Son of man, when the House of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways, and by their deeds. Their way was before Me as the filthiness of the menstruous.

¹⁸ “Therefore I poured My wrath upon them, for the blood that they had shed in the land, and for their idols. They had polluted it.

¹⁹ “And I scattered them among the heathen; and they were dispersed throughout the countries. According to their ways, and according to their deeds, I judged them.

²⁰ “And when they came to the heathen, wherever they went, they polluted My Holy Name when they said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, and have gone out of His land.’

²¹ “But I favored My Holy Name, which the House of Israel had polluted among the heathen, wherever they went.

²² “Therefore say to the House of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sakes, O House of Israel, but for My Holy Name’s sake, which you polluted among the heathen, wherever you went.

²³ “And I will sanctify My great Name, which was polluted among the heathen, among whom you have polluted it. And the heathen shall know that I am the LORD,” says 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 I will pour clean water upon you; and you shall be clean. From all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you.

²⁶ “I will also give you a new heart; and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your body; and I will give you a heart of flesh.

²⁷ “And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My Statutes. And you shall keep My Judgments and do them.

²⁸ “And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. And you shall be My people. And I will be your God.

²⁹ “I will also deliver you from all your filthiness. And I will call for grain, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.

³⁰ “For I will multiply the fruit of the trees and the increase of the field, so that you shall no longer bear the reproach of famine among the heathen.

³¹ “Then you shall remember your own wicked ways, and your deeds that were not good, and shall judge yourselves worthy to have been destroyed for your iniquities and for your abominations.

³² “Be it known to you that I do not do this for your sakes,” says the Lord GOD, “O you House of Israel! Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways!”

³³ ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “On the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, I will cause you to dwell in the cities; and the desolate places shall be built.

³⁴ “And the desolate land shall be tilled instead of laying waste in the sight of all who pass by.

³⁵ “For they said, ‘This waste land is like the Garden of Eden. And these once waste and desolate and ruinous cities are strong and inhabited.’

³⁶ “Then the rest of the heathen who are left all around you shall know that I, the LORD, build the ruinous places and plant the desolate places. I, the LORD, have spoken it and will do it.”

³⁷ ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will also allow for this to be sought by the House of Israel, to perform it to them: I will increase them with men like a flock.

³⁸ “As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in their solemn feasts, so shall the desolate cities be filled with flocks of men. And they shall know that I am the LORD.”’”