Ezekiel 36:16-21

Living Bible

¹⁶ Then this further word came to me from the Lord:

¹⁷ “Son of dust, when the people of Israel were living in their own country, they defiled it by their evil deeds; to me their worship was as foul as filthy rags.^{[a] 18} They polluted the land with murder and with the worshiping of idols, so I poured out my fury upon them. ¹⁹ And I exiled them to many lands; that is how I punished them for the evil way they lived. ²⁰ But when they were scattered out among the nations, then they were a blight upon my holy name because the nations said, ‘These are the people of God and he couldn’t protect them from harm!’ ²¹ I am concerned about my reputation that was ruined by my people throughout the world.