36 1 He promiseth to deliver Israel from the Gentiles. 22 The benefits done unto the Jews, are to be ascribed to the mercy of God, and not unto their deservings. 26 God reneweth our hearts that we may walk in his commandments.
1 Also thou son of man, prophesy unto the (A)mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord.
2 Thus saith the Lord God, Because the [a]enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the [b]high places of the world are ours in possession,
3 Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God, Because that 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 ye are come unto the lips and [c]tongues of men, and unto the reproach 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 rivers and to the valleys, and to the waste and desolate places, and to the cities that are forsaken, which are spoiled and had in derision of the residue of the heathen that are round about.
5 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Surely in the fire of mine indignation have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have [d]taken my land for their possession, with the joy of all their heart, and with despiteful minds to cast it out for a prey.
6 Prophesy therefore upon 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 mine indignation and in my wrath, because ye have suffered the [e]shame of the heathen.
7 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, I have [f]lifted up mine hand, surely the heathen that are about you, shall bear their shame.
8 But you, O mountains of Israel, ye shall [g]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 unto you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown.
10 And I will multiply the men upon you, even all the house of Israel wholly, and the cities shall be inhabited, and the desolate places shall be built.
11 And I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall increase, and bring fruit, and I will cause you to dwell after your old estate, and I will bestow benefits upon you more than [h]at the first, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
12 Yea, I will cause men to walk upon [i]you, even my people Israel, and they shall possess [j]you, and ye shall be their inheritance, and ye shall no more henceforth deprive them of men.
13 Thus saith the Lord, Because they say unto you, Thou [k]land devourest up men, and hast been a waster of thy people,
14 Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither waste thy people henceforth, saith the Lord God,
15 Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen anymore, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people anymore, neither shalt cause thy folk to fall anymore, saith the Lord God.
16 ¶ Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto 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 Wherefore I poured my wrath upon them, for the blood that they had shed in the land, and for their idols, wherewith they had polluted it.
19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: for according to their ways, and according to their deeds, I judged them.
20 (B)And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they polluted mine holy Name, when they said of them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone out of his land.
21 But I favored mine holy [l]Name, which the house of Israel had polluted among the heathen, whither they went.
22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine [m]holy Name’s sake, which ye polluted among the heathen, whither ye 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, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before [n]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 will I pour clean [o]water upon you, and ye shall be clean: yea, from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you.
26 (C)A new 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 body, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them.
28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ye 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 [p]corn, 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, that ye shall bear no more the reproach of famine among the heathen.
31 Then shall ye remember your own wicked ways, and your deeds that were not good, and shall judge yourselves worthy to have been [q]destroyed for your iniquities, and for your abominations.
32 Be it known unto you that I do not this for your sakes, saith the Lord God: therefore, O ye house of Israel, be ashamed and confounded for your own ways.
33 Thus saith the Lord God, What time as 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, whereas it lay waste in the sight of all that passed by.
35 For they said, This waste land was like the garden of Eden, and these waste, and desolate, and ruinous cities were strong, and were inhabited.
36 Then the residue of the heathen, that are left round about you, shall [r]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 saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be sought of the house of Israel, to perform it unto 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.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 36:2 That is, the Edomite.
- Ezekiel 36:2 That is, Jerusalem, which for God’s promises was the chiefest of all the world.
- Ezekiel 36:3 Ye are made a matter of talk and derision to all the world.
- Ezekiel 36:5 They appointed with themselves to have it, and therefore came with Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem for this purpose.
- Ezekiel 36:6 Because you have been a laughingstock unto them.
- Ezekiel 36:7 By making a solemn oath, read Ezek. 20:5.
- Ezekiel 36:8 God declareth his mercies and goodness toward his Church, who still preserveth his, even when he destroyeth his enemies.
- Ezekiel 36:11 Which was accomplished under Christ, to whom all these temporal deliverances did direct them.
- Ezekiel 36:12 That is, upon the mountains of Jerusalem.
- Ezekiel 36:12 Or, thee.
- Ezekiel 36:13 This the enemies imputed as the reproach of the land, which God did for the sins of the people according to his just judgments.
- Ezekiel 36:21 And therefore would not suffer my Name to be had in contempt, as the heathen would have reproached me, if I had suffered my Church to perish.
- Ezekiel 36:22 This excludeth from man all dignity, and means to deserve anything by, seeing that God referreth the whole to himself, and that only for the glory of his holy Name.
- Ezekiel 36:23 Or, your.
- Ezekiel 36:25 That is, his spirit, whereby he reformeth the heart, and regenerateth his, Isa. 44:3.
- Ezekiel 36:29 Under the abundance of temporal benefits he concludeth the spiritual graces.
- Ezekiel 36:31 Ye shall come to true repentance, and think yourselves unworthy to be of the number of God’s creatures, for your ingratitude against him.
- Ezekiel 36:36 He declareth that it ought not to be referred to the soil or plentifulness of the earth that any country is rich and abundant, but only to God’s mercies, as his plagues and curses declare, when he maketh it barren.