¹⁴ Then this message came to me from the Lord: ¹⁵ “Son of Man, your brothers, your other relatives, your fellow exiles,^[a] and the entire house of Israel are the people to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘They’ve abandoned the Lord. This land was given to us for an inheritance.’”

The Future Hope of Israel

¹⁶ “Therefore you are to say, ‘This is what the Lord God says, “Although I’ve removed them far away to live among the nations, and although I’ve scattered them throughout the earth, yet I’ve continued to be their sanctuary, even for the short time that they will be living in the lands to which they’ve gone.”’

¹⁷ “Therefore you are to say, ‘This is what the Lord God says, “I’m going to gather you from among the nations, assembling you from the lands among which you have been dispersed. I’ll give you the land of Israel. ¹⁸ When they return from there and cast away all of their loathsome things and detestable practices, ¹⁹ then I’ll give them a united heart, placing a new spirit within them.^[b] I’ll remove their stubborn heart^[c] and give them a heart that’s sensitive to me.^{[d] 20} When they live by my statutes and keep my ordinances by observing them, then they’ll be my people and I will be their God. ²¹ But to those whose hearts delight in loathsome things and detestable practices, I’ll bring the consequences of their behavior crashing down on their own heads,” declares the Lord God.’”