Mountains of Israel Will Bear Fruit

36 “Now as for you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of Yahweh. ² Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Because the enemy has spoken against you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The everlasting ^[a](A)heights have become our possession,’ ³ therefore prophesy and say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “^[b]For good reason they have made you ^(B)desolate and bruised you from every side, that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations, and you have been taken up in the ^[c](C)speech of their tongue and the rumors of the people.”’” ⁴ Therefore, O ^(D)mountains of Israel, hear the word of Lord Yahweh. Thus says Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the forsaken cities which have become ^(E)plunder and objects of scoffing to the rest of the nations which are round about, ⁵ therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, “Surely in the fire of My ^(F)jealousy I have spoken against the ^(G)rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave My land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted ^(H)gladness and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for plunder.” ⁶ Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, “Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because you have ^(I)borne the dishonor of the nations.’ ⁷ Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘I have ^[d]sworn that surely the nations which are around you will themselves bear their dishonor. ⁸ But you, O mountains of Israel, you will ^(J)put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come. ⁹ For, behold, I am for you, and I will ^(K)turn to you, and you will be ^(L)cultivated and sown. ¹⁰ I will multiply men on you, ^(M)all the house of Israel, all of it; and the ^(N)cities will be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt. ¹¹ I will multiply on you man and beast; and they will multiply and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as you were ^(O)formerly and will ^[e]treat you ^(P)better than at the first. Thus you will know that I am Yahweh. ¹² And I will cause ^(Q)men—My people Israel—to walk on you and possess you so that you will become their ^(R)inheritance and never again ^(S)bereave them of children.’

¹³ “Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Because they say to you, “You are a ^(T)devourer of men and have bereaved your ^[f]nation of children,” ¹⁴ therefore you will no longer devour men and no longer bereave your nation of children,’ declares Lord Yahweh. ¹⁵ I will not let you hear ^(U)dishonor from the nations anymore, nor will you bear ^(V)reproach from the peoples any longer, nor will you cause your nation to ^(W)stumble any longer,” declares Lord Yahweh.’”

Yahweh’s Name Profaned Among the Nations

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

They Will Know That I Am Yahweh

²² “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “It is ^(AF)not 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, to which you have come. ²³ I will ^(AG)prove the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the ^(AH)nations will know that I am Yahweh,” declares Lord Yahweh, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. ²⁴ And I will ^(AI)take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land. ²⁵ Then I will ^[h](AJ)sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your ^(AK)uncleanness and from all your ^(AL)idols. ²⁶ Moreover, I will give you a ^(AM)new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the ^(AN)heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ I will ^(AO)put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to do My judgments. ²⁸ And you will inhabit the land that I gave to your fathers; so you will be ^(AP)My people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I ^(AQ)will not ^[i]bring a famine on you. ³⁰ I will ^(AR)multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field so that you will not receive again the reproach of famine among the nations. ³¹ Then you will ^(AS)remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves to your own faces for your iniquities and your abominations. ³² I am not doing this ^(AT)for your sake,” declares Lord Yahweh, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and feel dishonor for your ways, O house of Israel!”

³³ ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the ^(AU)cities to be inhabited, and the ^(AV)waste places will be rebuilt. ³⁴ The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. ³⁵ And they will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the ^(AW)garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate, and ^[j]ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’ ³⁶ Then the nations that remain all around you will know that I, Yahweh, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, Yahweh, have spoken and ^(AX)will do it.”

³⁷ ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “This also I will let the house of Israel inquire of Me to do for them: I will increase their men like a flock. ³⁸ Like the ^(AY)flock for holy offerings, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed times, so will the waste cities be filled with ^(AZ)flocks of men. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”’”