Self-interpreting Bible

« back to list of books

« back to list of chapters

Ezekiel 36

1The land of Israel is comforted with a prospect of the ruin of its spiteful neighbours, and of its own blessings promised by God. 16Israel was rejected for their sin, and shall be restored with blessings for the sake of God's name only.

1 ALSO, thou son of man, prophesy unto the amountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the bword of the LORD:

2 Thus saith the Lord GOD; cBecause the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even dthe ancient high places are eours in possession:

3 Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; 1Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and 2ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people:

4 Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the 3rivers, and to the valleys, to fthe desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and gderision to hthe residue of the heathen that are round about;

5 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely iin the fire of my jealousy have I spoken jagainst the residue of the heathen, and against all kIdumea, which have appointed lmy land into their possession mwith the joy of all their heart, with *despiteful minds, to cast it out for a *prey.

6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because nye have borne the shame of the heathen:

7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; oI have lifted up mine hand, pSurely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame.

8 ¶But ye, O mountains of Israel, qye shall shoot forth your rbranches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are sat hand to come.

9 For, behold, I am for you, tand I will turn unto you, and ye shall be *tilled and sown:

10 And uI will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and vthe cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:

11 And wI will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and xI will settle you after yyour old estates, and zwill do better unto you than at your beginnings: and aye shall know that I am the LORD.

12 Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and bthey shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou cshalt no more henceforth bereave them of men.

13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they say unto you, Thou land ddevourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations;

14 Therefore thou shalt devour men eno more, neither 4bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord GOD.

15 Neither will I cause men fto hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the greproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord GOD.

16 ¶Moreover hthe word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, ithey defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the juncleanness of a removed woman.

18 Wherefore kI poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it:

19 And I lscattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: maccording to their way and according to their doings I judged them.

20 And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they nprofaned my holy name, when they said to them, oThese are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.

21 ¶But pI had pity for qmine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.

22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; rI do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but sfor mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.

23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among tthe heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, uwhen I shall be vsanctified in you before 5their eyes.

24 wFor 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 will xI sprinkle yclean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: zfrom all your filthiness, and from aall your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 A bnew heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27 And cI will put my spirit within you, dand cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

28 eAnd ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; fand ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

29 I gwill also save you from all your uncleannesses: hand I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.

30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.

    31 iThen shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall jlothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

    32 kNot for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: lbe ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.

    33 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities mI will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.

    34 nAnd the desolate land shall be *tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.

    35 oAnd they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like pthe garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.

    36 qThen the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will rdo it.

    37 Thus saith the Lord GOD; sI will yet for this be enquired of by the house of tIsrael, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.

    38 As the 6holy flock, as the uflock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so vshall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD.