Ezekiel 36

“As for you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD. This is what the Lord GOD says: Because the enemy said of you, ‘Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession,’ therefore prophesy and say: This is what the Lord GOD says: Because, yes, because they devastated you and swallowed you up from every side, so that you became a possession of the remaining nations and a subject of gossip and slander among the people, therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, the desolate ruins and abandoned cities that have become plunder and mockery to the remaining nations around you: Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Surely I have spoken in the fire of my jealousy against the remaining nations and all Edom, who made my land their possession with wholehearted joy and contempt in their souls, to plunder its pasturelands. Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys: This is what the Lord GOD says: I have spoken in my jealousy and wrath because you have borne the disgrace of the nations. Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I have raised my hand: Surely the nations around you will bear their own disgrace. But you, mountains of Israel, will put out your branches and bear your fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come. For I am for you. I will turn toward you, and you will be tilled and sown. I will multiply people upon you, the entire house of Israel, all of it. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. I will multiply people and animals upon you, and they will multiply and be fruitful. I will make you inhabited as before and do more good to you than at your beginnings. Then you will know that I am the LORD. I will make people walk upon you, my people Israel. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance. You will never again bereave them. This is what the Lord GOD says: Because they say to you, ‘You devour people and have bereaved your nations,’ therefore you will no longer devour people or bereave your nations, declares the Lord GOD. I will no longer let you hear the insults of the nations. You will no longer bear the reproach of the peoples or make your nations stumble, declares the Lord GOD.” The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived on their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their way before me was like the uncleanness of a menstruating woman. So 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. I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed among the countries. I judged them according to their ways and their deeds. When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, ‘These are the LORD’s people, yet they have gone out of his land.’ But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went. Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: I am not acting for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. I will show the holiness of my great name, profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. The nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show my holiness in you before their eyes. I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the countries, and bring you to your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes. You will keep my ordinances and carry them out. You will live in the land I gave to your fathers. You will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring famine upon you. I will multiply the fruit of the trees and the produce of the field, so that you will no longer bear the reproach of famine among the nations. You will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight because of your iniquities and your abominations. I am not acting for your sake, declares the Lord GOD. Let that be known to you. Be ashamed and disgraced because of your ways, house of Israel. This is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will make the cities inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of everyone who passes by. They will say, “This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the ruined, desolate, and demolished cities are fortified and inhabited.” The nations remaining around you will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt what was demolished and planted what was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it. This is what the Lord GOD says: I will also let the house of Israel ask me to do this for them: I will multiply their people like a flock. Like consecrated flocks, like the flocks of Jerusalem at its appointed festivals, so the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”

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