Ezekiel 36:1-15

1The Lord said, ‘Son of man, speak my message to the mountains of Israel. Say to them: “Listen to the Lord's message, you mountains of Israel.

2This is what the Almighty Lord says: Your enemies have laughed at you. They have said, ‘The old mountains now belong to us!’ ”

3So now prophesy to those mountains. Tell them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: Your enemies attacked you from every side. They won against you, so that you belonged to other nations. People talked about you and they insulted you.

4Because of this, mountains of Israel, listen to this message from me, the Almighty Lord. I say this to the hills, the mountains and the valleys. I say this to the empty places and the towns that have become heaps of stones where nobody lives. This has caused the nations around you to laugh at you and insult you.

5So this is what the Almighty Lord says: I am very angry with those nations and I will punish them. I am even more angry with the people of Edom because they insulted my people. They were happy to take my land for themselves so that their animals could eat the grass.”

6So prophesy to the hills and mountains of Israel, and to its valleys. Tell them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: I am very angry because the nations around you have caused you to be ashamed.

7So this is what I, the Almighty Lord, say: I make a strong promise that those nations will soon be ashamed themselves.

8But I say this to you mountains of Israel. Trees will grow on you again and crops will provide much food for my people. My people will soon come home.

9I am your friend and I will take care of you. Men will plough your ground and they will plant seeds in it.

10I will cause more and more Israelite people to live on you, and in all the land. They will live in the towns and they will repair the broken buildings.

11I will make more and more people and animals live on you. They will give birth to many young ones, so that they grow in number. I will cause many people to live on you, as they did a long time ago. I will help you with more good things than you had when you first became a land for my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

12I will cause my people, the Israelites, to walk on you. You will belong to them as the place where they and their descendants live. You will never again cause their children to die.

13This is what the Almighty Lord says: People are saying to you, Israel's land, ‘You destroy people. You take away the nation's children.’

14So now I, the Almighty Lord, tell you this: You will no longer destroy people or take away the nation's children.

15People from other nations will no longer insult you or laugh at you. You will no longer cause your nation to suffer. That is what the Almighty Lord says.” ’