Prophecy to the Mountains of Israel

1And thou, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say to the mountains of Israel, Hear ye the word of the Lord: 2Thus saith the Lord God; Because the enemy has said against you, Aha, the old waste places are become a possession for us: 3therefore prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have been dishonoured, and hated by those round about you, that ye might be a possession to the remainder of the nations, and ye became a by-word, and a reproach to the nations: 4therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord to the mountains, and to the hills, and to the streams, and to the valleys, and to the places that have been made desolate and destroyed, and to the cities that have been deserted, and have become a spoil and a trampling to the nations that were left round about; 5therefore, thus saith the Lord; Verily in the fire of my wrath have I spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Idumea, because they have appropriated my land to themselves for a possession with joy, disregarding the lives of the inhabitants, to destroy it by plunder: 6therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains, and to the hills, and to the valleys, and to the forests, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because ye have borne the reproaches of the heathen: 7therefore I will lift up my hand against the nations that are round about you; they shall bear their reproach. 8But your grapes and your fruits, O mountains of Israel, shall my people eat; for they are hoping to come. 9For, behold, I am toward you, and I will have respect to you, and ye shall be tilled and sown: 10and I will multiply men upon you, even all the house of Israel to the end: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the desolate land shall be built upon. 11And I will multiply men and cattle upon you; and I will cause you to dwell as at the beginning, and will treat you well, as in your former times: and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 12And I will increase men upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall inherit you, and ye shall be to them for a possession; and ye shall no more be bereaved of them.

13Thus saith the Lord God: Because they said to thee, Thou land devourest men, and hast been bereaved of thy nation; 14therefore thou shalt no more devour men, and thou shalt no more bereave thy nation, saith the Lord God. 15And there shall no more be heard against you the reproach of the nations, and ye shall no more bear the revilings of the peoples, saith the Lord God.

The Lord's Holy Name

16And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 17Son of man, the house of Israel dwelt upon their land, and defiled it by their way, and with their idols, and with their uncleannesses; and their way was before me like the uncleanness of a removed woman. 18So I poured out my wrath upon them: 19and I dispersed them among the nations, and utterly scattered them through the countries: I judged them according to their way and according to their sin. 20And they went in among the nations, among which they went, and they profaned my holy name, while it was said of them, These are the people of the Lord, and they came forth out of his land. 21But I spared them for the sake of my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations, among whom they went.

A New Heart and Spirit

22Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord; I do not this, O house of Israel, for your sakes, but because of my holy name, which ye have profaned among the nations, among whom ye went. 23And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the nations, which ye profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, when I am sanctified among you before their eyes. 24And I will take you out from the nations, and will gather you out of all the lands, and will bring you into your own land: 25and I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be purged from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols, and I will cleanse you. 26And I will give you a new heart, and will put a new spirit in you: and I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put my Spirit in you, and will cause you to walk in mine ordinances, and to keep my judgments, and do them. 28And ye shall dwell upon the land which I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be to me a people, and I will be to you a God. 29And I will save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and multiply it, and will not bring famine upon you. 30And I will multiply the fruit of the trees, and the produce of the field, that ye may not bear the reproach of famine among the nations. 31And ye shall remember your evil ways and your practices that were not good, and ye shall be hateful in your own sight for your transgressions and for your abominations. 32Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, as it is known to you: be ye ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

33Thus saith the Lord God; In the day wherein I shall cleanse you from all your iniquities I will also cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built upon: 34and the desolate land shall be cultivated, whereas it was desolate in the eyes of every one that passed by. 35And they shall say, That desolate land is become like a garden of delight; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are inhabited. 36And the nations, as many as shall have been left round about you, shall know that I the Lord have built the ruined cities and planted the waste lands: I the Lord have spoken, and will do it.

37Thus saith the Lord God; Yet for this will I be sought by the house of Israel, to establish them; I will multiply them even men as sheep; 38as holy sheep, as the sheep of Jerusalem in her feasts; thus shall the desert cities be full of flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the Lord.