Ezekiel 36
The Lord God speaks to the mountains of Israel, condemning the nations that have desecrated and ridiculed them, and promising to restore the land and its people. He vows to multiply the people of Israel, to fill the cities and the land with men and cattle, and to give them greater gifts than they had before. The Lord also promises to cleanse the people of Israel from their filth and idols, to give them a new heart and a new spirit, and to lead them to live in the land that He gave to their fathers. He will restore the cities and the land, and the Gentiles will know that He is the Lord.
1"But as for you, son of man, prophesy over the mountains of Israel, and you shall say: O mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord2Thus says the Lord God: Because the enemy has said about you: ‘It is well! The everlasting heights have been given to us as an inheritance!3because of this, prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord God: Because you have been made desolate, and you have been trampled on every side, and you have been made into an inheritance for the remainder of the nations, and because you rose up, over the tip of the tongue and over the shame of the people4because of this, O mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the torrents, and to the valleys, and to the deserts, and to the ruins, and to the forsaken cities, which have been depopulated and ridiculed by the remainder of the nations all around5Because of this, thus says the Lord God: In the fire of my zeal, I have spoken about the remainder of the nations, and about all of Idumea, who have given my land to themselves, joyfully, as an inheritance, and with all the heart and mind, and who have cast it out, so that they may lay waste to it6Therefore, prophesy over the soil of Israel, and you shall say to the mountains, and to the hills, to the ridges, and to the valleys: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I have spoken in my zeal and in my fury, because you have endured the shame of the Gentiles7Therefore, thus says the Lord God: I have lifted up my hand, so that the Gentiles, who are all around you, will themselves bear their shame8But as for you, O mountains of Israel, spring forth your branches, and bear your fruit, to my people Israel. For they are close to their advent9For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be plowed, and you will receive seed10And I will multiply men among you and among all the house of Israel. And the cities shall be inhabited, and the ruinous places shall be restored11And I will fill you again with men and with cattle. And they will be multiplied, and they will increase. And I will cause you to live as from the beginning, and I will give you even greater gifts than those you had from the start. And you shall know that I am the Lord12And I will lead men over you, over my people Israel, and they will possess you as an inheritance. And you shall be to them as an inheritance. And you shall no longer be permitted to be without them13Thus says the Lord God: Because they are saying about you, ‘You are a woman who devours men, and you are strangling your own nation,14because of this, you shall no longer consume men, and you shall no longer harm your own nation, says the Lord God15Neither will I permit men to discover in you the shame of the Gentiles any more. And you shall never again bear the reproach of the peoples. And you shall not send your people away any more, says the Lord God.16And the word of the Lord came to me, saying17"Son of man, the house of Israel lived on their own soil, and they defiled it with their ways and with their intentions. Their way, in my sight, became like the uncleanness of a menstruous woman18And so I poured out my indignation upon them, because of the blood which they shed upon the land, and because they defiled it with their idols19And I dispersed them among the Gentiles, and they have been scattered among the lands. I have judged them according to their ways and their plans20And when they walked among the Gentiles, to whom they had entered, they defiled my holy name, though it was being said about them: ‘This is the people of the Lord,’ and ‘They went forth from his land.21But I have spared my holy name, which the house of Israel has defiled among the Gentiles, to whom they entered22For this reason, you shall say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: I will act, not for your sake, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have defiled among the Gentiles, to whom you entered23And I will sanctify my great name, which was defiled among the Gentiles, which you have defiled in their midst. So may the Gentiles know that I am the Lord, says the Lord of hosts, when I will have been sanctified in you, before their eyes24Certainly, I will take you away from the Gentiles, and I will gather you together from all the lands, and I will lead you into your own land25And I will pour clean water over you, and you shall be cleansed from all your filth, and I will cleanse you from all your idols26And I will give to you a new heart, and I will place in you a new spirit. And I will take away the heart of stone from your body, and I will give to you a heart of flesh27And I will place my Spirit in your midst. And I will act so that you may walk in my precepts and keep my judgments, and so that you may fulfill them28And you shall live in the land that I gave to your fathers. And you shall be my people, and I will be your God29And I will save you from all your filth. And I will call for grain, and I will multiply it, and I will not impose a famine upon you30And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you may no longer bear the disgrace of famine among the nations31And you shall remember your very wicked ways and your intentions, which were not good. And you will be displeased by your own iniquities and your own crimes32It is not for your sakes that I will act, says the Lord God; let this be known to you. Be confounded and ashamed over your own ways, O house of Israel33Thus says the Lord God: In the day when I will have cleansed you from all your iniquities, and when I will have caused the cities to be inhabited, and when I will have restored the ruinous places34and when the deserted land will have been cultivated, which previously was desolate to the eyes of all who passed by35then they shall say: ‘This uncultivated land has become a garden of delight, and the cities, which were deserted and destitute and overturned, have been settled and fortified.36And the Gentiles, those who remain around you, shall know that I, the Lord, have built up what was destroyed, and have planted what was uncultivated. I, the Lord, have spoken and acted37Thus says the Lord God: Even in this time, the house of Israel shall find me, so that I may act for them. I will multiply them like a flock of men38like a holy flock, like the flock of Jerusalem in her solemnities. So shall the deserted cities be filled with flocks of men. And they shall know that I am the Lord.
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