Ezekiel 36:8-38

8But you, O mountains of Israel, you will 1put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come. 9For, behold, I am for you, and I will 2turn to you, and you will be 3cultivated and sown. 10I will multiply men on you, 4all the house of Israel, all of it; and the 5cities will be inhabited and the waste places will be rebuilt. 11I will multiply on you man and beast; and they will increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as you were 6formerly and will 7treat you 8better than at the first. Thus you will know that I am the Lord. 12Yes, I will cause 9men--My people Israel--to walk on you and possess you, so that you will become their 10inheritance and never again 11bereave them of children.’

13“Thus says the Lord God, ‘Because they say to you, “You are a 12devourer of men and have bereaved your 13nation of children,” 14therefore you will no longer devour men and no longer bereave your nation of children,’ declares the Lord God. 15I will not let you hear 14insults from the nations anymore, nor will you bear 15disgrace from the peoples any longer, nor will you cause your nation to 16stumble any longer,” declares the Lord God.’”

16Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, 17“Son of man, when the house of Israel was living in their own land, they 17defiled it by their ways and their deeds; their way before Me was like 18the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. 18Therefore I 19poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols. 19Also I 20scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands. 21According to their ways and their deeds I judged them. 20When they came to the nations where they went, they 22profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the 23people of the Lord; yet they have come out of His land.’ 21But I had 24concern for My 25holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.

22“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “It is 26not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. 23I will 27vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the 28nations will know that I am the Lord,” declares the Lord God, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. 24For I will 29take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. 25Then I will 30sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your 31filthiness and from all your 32idols. 26Moreover, I will give you a 33new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the 34heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27I will 35put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. 28You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be 36My people, and I will be your God. 29Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I 37will not 38bring a famine on you. 30I will 39multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31Then you will 40remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. 32I am not doing this 41for your sake,” declares the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!”

33‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the 42cities to be inhabited, and the 43waste places will be rebuilt. 34The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. 35They will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the 44garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’ 36Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the Lord, have spoken and 45will do it.”

37‘Thus says the Lord God, “This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them: I will increase their men like a flock. 38Like the 46flock 47for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the waste cities be filled with 48flocks of men. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”’”