Ezekiel 36

God’s Promises of Restoration Ezekiel 36:6–15

⁶Verse 6. Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and tell the mountains, the hills, the watercourses and the valleys, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because you have borne the shame of the nations.” ⁷Verse 7. Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “I have sworn, ‘Surely the nations that are around you will bear their shame.’ ⁸Verse 8. “‘“But you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot out your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come. ⁹Verse 9. For, behold, I am for you, and I will come to you, and you will be tilled and sown.

¹⁰Verse 10. I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, even all of it. The cities will be inhabited, and the waste places will be built. ¹¹Verse 11. I will multiply man and animal on you. They will increase and be fruitful. I will cause you to be inhabited as you were before, and you will do better than at your beginnings. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. ¹²Verse 12. Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even my people Israel. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will never again bereave them of their children.”

¹³Verse 13. “‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Because they say to you, ‘You are a devourer of men, and have been a bereaver of your nation;’ ¹⁴Verse 14. therefore you shall devour men no more, and not bereave your nation any more,” says the Lord Yahweh. ¹⁵Verse 15. “I won’t let you hear the shame of the nations any more. You won’t bear the reproach of the peoples any more, and you won’t cause your nation to stumble any more,” says the Lord Yahweh.’”

The Reasons for Judgment Ezekiel 36:16–21

¹⁶Verse 16. Moreover Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, ¹⁷Verse 17. “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and by their deeds. Their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. ¹⁸Verse 18. Therefore I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols. ¹⁹Verse 19. I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. I judged them according to their way and according to their deeds. ²⁰Verse 20. When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name; in that men said of them, ‘These are Yahweh’s people, and have left his land.’

²¹Verse 21. But I had respect for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.

God’s Intent for His Name Ezekiel 36:22–32

²²Verse 22. “Therefore tell the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “I don’t do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. ²³Verse 23. I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh,” says the Lord Yahweh, “when I am proven holy in you before their eyes. ²⁴Verse 24. “‘“For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.

²⁵Verse 25. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, and from all your idols. ²⁶Verse 26. I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷Verse 27. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. You will keep my ordinances and do them. ²⁸Verse 28. You will dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. You will be my people, and I will be your God.

²⁹Verse 29. I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you. ³⁰Verse 30. I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations. ³¹Verse 31. “‘“Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. ³²Verse 32. I don’t do this for your sake,” says the Lord Yahweh. “Let it be known to you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel.”

Future Abundance and Inhabitance Ezekiel 36:33–38

³³Verse 33. “‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited and the waste places will be built. ³⁴Verse 34. The land that was desolate will be tilled instead of being a desolation in the sight of all who passed by. ³⁵Verse 35. They will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The waste, desolate, and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’ ³⁶Verse 36. Then the nations that are left around you will know that I, Yahweh, have built the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate. I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and I will do it.”

³⁷Verse 37. “‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “For this, moreover, will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock. ³⁸Verse 38. As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so the waste cities will be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.’”