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O son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. 2 This is what the Lord God says: “Because the enemy has said of you, ‘Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession’ ” ’, 3 therefore, prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Because they have made you desolate and have crushed you on every side, so that you became a possession for the rest of the nations, and you became the object of people’s malicious gossip and slander”, 4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: This is what the Lord God says to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys, to the desolate ruins and the abandoned cities that have become a source of plunder and an object of ridicule to the rest of the nations all around— 5 this is what the Lord God says: “I have indeed spoken in My burning zeal against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who took My land as their own possession with wholehearted glee and with utter contempt, so that they might plunder its pastureland” ’.
6 “Therefore, prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I speak in My jealous wrath, because you have suffered the insults of the nations”. 7 Therefore this is what the Lord God says: “I swear with uplifted hand that the nations around you will themselves also suffer insults.
8 “But you, O mountains of Israel, will put forth your own branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel, for their return is near. 9 For I truly do care about you; I will turn to you, and you will be tilled and sown. 10 I will multiply the number of people on you, the whole house of Israel. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. 11 I will fill you with people and animals, and they will increase and be fruitful. I will cause you to be inhabited as in former times and make you more prosperous than you were before. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 12 Yes, I will cause people, My people Israel, to walk over you again. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance; and you will no longer deprive them of their children”.
13 ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Because they say to you, ‘You devour men and deprive your nation of children’, 14 therefore you will no longer devour men, nor will you deprive your nation of children”, says the Lord God. 15 No longer will I allow the insults of the nations to be heard against you, and no more will you have to endure the reproach of the peoples; never again will you cause your nation to stumble”, says the Lord God’.”
16 The word of the Lord came to me: 17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it with their conduct and their actions. Their conduct before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual period. 18 So I poured out My wrath on them because of the blood that they had shed upon the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. 20 But when they came to those nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name, for it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, yet they had to leave His land’. 21 For I was concerned for My holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations wherever they went.
22 “Therefore, say to the house of Israel: ‘This is what the Lord God says: “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you have gone. 23 I will honour the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned in their midst. And the nations will know that I am the Lord”, says the Lord God, “when I display My holiness through you before their eyes.
24 “For I will take you from among the nations and gather you from all the countries, and I will bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes, and to carefully observe My ordinances. 28 Then you will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; and you will be My people, and I will be your God. 29 I will deliver you from all your uncleanness. Then I will summon the grain and make it abundant, and I will not bring famine on you. 30 I will make the fruit of your trees and the crops of your fields plentiful, so that you will not suffer the humiliation of famine again before the nations. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. 32 It is not for your sake that I will act”, says the Lord God, “let this be known to you. Be ashamed and humiliated because of your ways, O house of Israel!”
33 ‘This is what the Lord God says: “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause your cities to be inhabited, and the ruins to be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated, instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by. 35 Then they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the cities that were once ruined, desolate, and ravaged, are now fortified and inhabited’. 36 Then the nations that remain around you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted the barren land. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it”.
37 ‘This is what the Lord God says: “I will respond to the house of Israel when they ask and do this for them: I will increase their number like a flock. 38 As Jerusalem is filled with flocks for sacrificial offerings at the appointed feasts, so the ruined cities will again be filled with flocks of people. Then they know that I am the Lord.’.”