Ezekiel 36–38

1“And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD.

2This is what the Lord GOD says: Because the enemy has said of you, ‘Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession,’

3therefore prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Because they have made you desolate and have trampled you on every side, so that you became a possession of the rest of the nations and were taken up in slander by the lips of their talkers,

4therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and abandoned cities, which have become a spoil and a mockery to the rest of the nations around you.

5Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Surely in My burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who took My land as their own possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, so that its pastureland became plunder.

6Therefore, prophesy concerning the land of Israel and tell the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I have spoken in My burning zeal because you have endured the reproach of the nations.

7Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I have sworn with an uplifted hand that surely the nations around you will endure reproach of their own.

8But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and bear fruit for My people Israel, for they will soon come home.

9For behold, I am on your side; I will turn toward you, and you will be tilled and sown.

10I will multiply the people upon you—the house of Israel in its entirety. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.

11I will fill you with people and animals, and they will multiply and be fruitful. I will make you as inhabited as you once were, and I will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

12Yes, I will cause My people Israel to walk upon you; they will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will no longer deprive them of their children.

13For this is what the Lord GOD says: Because people say to you, ‘You devour men and deprive your nation of its children,’

14therefore you will no longer devour men or deprive your nation of its children, declares the Lord GOD.

15I will no longer allow the taunts of the nations to be heard against you, and you will no longer endure the reproach of the peoples or cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord GOD.”

16Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

17“Son of man, when the people of Israel lived in their land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds. Their behavior before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman’s impurity.

18So 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.

19I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered throughout the lands. I judged them according to their ways and deeds.

20And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.’

21But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they had gone.

22Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: It is not for your sake that I will act, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations to which you went.

23I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes.

24For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you back into your own land.

25I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.

26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

27And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.

28Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God.

29I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful, and I will not bring famine upon you.

30I will also make the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field plentiful, so that you will no longer bear reproach among the nations on account of famine.

31Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and abominations.

32It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD—let it be known to you. Be ashamed and disgraced for your ways, O house of Israel!

33This is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be resettled and the ruins to be rebuilt.

34The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through.

35Then they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and destroyed are now fortified and inhabited.’

36Then the nations around you that remain will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt what was destroyed, and I have replanted what was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it.

37This is what the Lord GOD says: Once again I will hear the plea of the house of Israel and do for them this: I will multiply their people like a flock.

38Like the numerous flocks for sacrifices at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

1The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones.

2He led me all around among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, and indeed, they were very dry.

3Then He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones come to life?” “O Lord GOD,” I replied, “only You know.”

4And He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and tell them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!

5This is what the Lord GOD says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will come to life.

6I will attach tendons to you and make flesh grow upon you and cover you with skin. I will put breath within you so that you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

7So I prophesied as I had been commanded. And as I prophesied, there was suddenly a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone.

8As I looked on, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.

9Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and tell the breath that this is what the Lord GOD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, so that they may live!”

10So I prophesied as He had commanded me, and the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet—a vast army.

11Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’

12Therefore prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O My people, I will open your graves and bring you up from them, and I will bring you back to the land of Israel.

13Then you, My people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.

14I will put My Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.’”

15Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

16“And you, son of man, take a single stick and write on it: ‘Belonging to Judah and to the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick and write on it: ‘Belonging to Joseph—the stick of Ephraim—and to all the house of Israel associated with him.’

17Then join them together into one stick, so that they become one in your hand.

18When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you explain to us what you mean by these?’

19you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will put them together with the stick of Judah. I will make them into a single stick, and they will become one in My hand.’

20When the sticks on which you write are in your hand and in full view of the people,

21you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will take the Israelites out of the nations to which they have gone, and I will gather them from all around and bring them into their own land.

22I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over all of them. Then they will no longer be two nations and will never again be divided into two kingdoms.

23They will no longer defile themselves with their idols or detestable images, or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all their apostasies by which they sinned, and I will cleanse them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.

24My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow My ordinances and keep and observe My statutes.

25They will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They will live there forever with their children and grandchildren, and My servant David will be their prince forever.

26And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary among them forever.

27My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people.

28Then the nations will know that I the LORD sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is among them forever.’”

1And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

2“Son of man, set your face against Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him

3and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.

4I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, and bring you out with all your army—your horses, your horsemen in full armor, and a great company armed with shields and bucklers, all brandishing their swords.

5Persia, Cush, and Put will accompany them, all with shields and helmets,

6as well as Gomer with all its troops, and Beth-togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you.

7Get ready; prepare yourself, you and all your company gathered around you; you will be their guard.

8After a long time you will be summoned. In the latter years you will enter a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and all now dwell securely.

9You and all your troops, and many peoples with you will go up, advancing like a thunderstorm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.

10This is what the Lord GOD says: On that day, thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will devise an evil plan.

11You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will come against a quiet people who dwell securely, all of them living without walls or bars or gates—

12in order to seize the spoil and carry off the plunder, to turn a hand against the desolate places now inhabited and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and possessions and who live at the center of the land.’

13Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will ask, ‘Have you come to capture the plunder? Have you assembled your hordes to carry away loot, to make off with silver and gold, to take cattle and goods, to seize great spoil?’

14Therefore prophesy, son of man, and tell Gog that this is what the Lord GOD says: On that day when My people Israel are dwelling securely, will you not take notice of this?

15And you will come from your place out of the far north—you and many peoples with you, all riding horses—a mighty horde, a huge army.

16You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the latter days, O Gog, that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy in you before their eyes.

17This is what the Lord GOD says: Are you the one of whom I have spoken in former days through My servants, the prophets of Israel, who in those times prophesied for years that I would bring you against them?

18Now on that day when Gog comes against the land of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, My wrath will flare up.

19In My zeal and fiery rage I proclaim that on that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.

20The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that crawls upon the ground, and all mankind on the face of the earth will tremble at My presence. The mountains will be thrown down, the cliffs will collapse, and every wall will fall to the ground.

21And I will summon a sword against Gog on all My mountains, declares the Lord GOD, and every man’s sword will be against his brother.

22I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.

23I will magnify and sanctify Myself, and I will reveal Myself in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.