Ezekiel 36
Open in the reader1“And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Strives-with-God and say: O mountains of Strives-with-God, hear the word of He-Who-Is.
2This is what the Lord He-Who-Is says: Because the enemy has said of you, ‘Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession,’
3therefore prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord He-Who-Is says: Because they have made you desolate and have trampled you on every side, so that you became a possession of the rest of the nations and were taken up in slander by the lips of their talkers,
4therefore, O mountains of Strives-with-God, hear the word of the Lord He-Who-Is. This is what the Lord He-Who-Is says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and abandoned cities, which have become a spoil and a mockery to the rest of the nations around you.
5Therefore this is what the Lord He-Who-Is says: Surely in My burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Red, who took My land as their own possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, so that its pastureland became plunder.
6Therefore, prophesy concerning the land of Strives-with-God and tell the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, that this is what the Lord He-Who-Is says: Behold, I have spoken in My burning zeal because you have endured the reproach of the nations.
7Therefore this is what the Lord He-Who-Is says: I have sworn with an uplifted hand that surely the nations around you will endure reproach of their own.
8But you, O mountains of Strives-with-God, will produce branches and bear fruit for My people Strives-with-God, for they will soon come home.
9For behold, I am on your side; I will turn toward you, and you will be tilled and sown.
10I will multiply the people upon you—the house of Strives-with-God in its entirety. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.
11I will fill you with people and animals, and they will multiply and be fruitful. I will make you as inhabited as you once were, and I will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am He-Who-Is.
12Yes, I will cause My people Strives-with-God to walk upon you; they will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will no longer deprive them of their children.
13For this is what the Lord He-Who-Is says: Because people say to you, ‘You devour men and deprive your nation of its children,’
14therefore you will no longer devour men or deprive your nation of its children, declares the Lord He-Who-Is.
15I will no longer allow the taunts of the nations to be heard against you, and you will no longer endure the reproach of the peoples or cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord He-Who-Is.”
16Again the word of He-Who-Is came to me, saying,
17“Son of man, when the people of Strives-with-God lived in their land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds. Their behavior before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman’s impurity.
18So I poured out My wrath upon them because of the blood they had shed on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols.
19I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered throughout the lands. I judged them according to their ways and deeds.
20And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My devoted name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of He-Who-Is, yet they had to leave His land.’
21But I had concern for My devoted name, which the house of Strives-with-God had profaned among the nations to which they had gone.
22Therefore tell the house of Strives-with-God that this is what the Lord He-Who-Is says: It is not for your sake that I will act, O house of Strives-with-God, but for My devoted name, which you profaned among the nations to which you went.
23I will show the devotedness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am He-Who-Is, declares the Lord He-Who-Is, when I show My devotedness in you before their eyes.
24For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you back into your own land.
25I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.
26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
27And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.
28Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God.
29I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful, and I will not bring famine upon you.
30I will also make the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field plentiful, so that you will no longer bear reproach among the nations on account of famine.
31Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and abominations.
32It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord He-Who-Is—let it be known to you. Be ashamed and disgraced for your ways, O house of Strives-with-God!
33This is what the Lord He-Who-Is says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be resettled and the ruins to be rebuilt.
34The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through.
35Then they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Delight. The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and destroyed are now fortified and inhabited.’
36Then the nations around you that remain will know that I, He-Who-Is, have rebuilt what was destroyed, and I have replanted what was desolate. I, He-Who-Is, have spoken, and I will do it.
37This is what the Lord He-Who-Is says: Once again I will hear the plea of the house of Strives-with-God and do for them this: I will multiply their people like a flock.
38Like the numerous flocks for sacrifices at Foundation-of-Peace during her appointed feasts, so the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am He-Who-Is.”