Blessing on Israel

36 “And you, son of man, prophesy to the ^(A)mountains of Israel, and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord! ² Thus says the Lord God: “Because ^(B)the enemy has said of you, ‘Aha! ^(C)The ^[a]ancient heights ^(D)have become our possession,’ ” ’ ³ therefore prophesy, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Because they made you desolate and swallowed you up on every side, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, ^(E)and you are taken up by the lips of ^(F)talkers and slandered by the people”— ⁴ therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, the hills, the ^[b]rivers, the valleys, the desolate wastes, and the cities that have been forsaken, which ^(G)became plunder and ^(H)mockery to the rest of the nations all around— ⁵ therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(I)“Surely I have spoken in My burning jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, ^(J)who gave My land to themselves as a possession, with wholehearted joy and ^[c]spiteful minds, in order to plunder its open country.” ’

⁶ “Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, and the valleys, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and My fury, because you have ^(K)borne the shame of the nations.” ⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord God: “I have ^(L)raised My hand in an oath that surely the nations that are around you shall ^(M)bear their own shame. ⁸ But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are about to come. ⁹ For indeed I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. ¹⁰ I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and ^(N)the ruins rebuilt. ^11 (O)I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and ^[d]bear young; I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do ^(P)better for you than at your beginnings. ^(Q)Then you shall know that I am the Lord. ¹² Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, My people Israel; ^(R)they shall take possession of you, and you shall be their inheritance; no more shall you ^(S)bereave them of children.”

¹³ ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Because they say to you, ^(T)‘You devour men and bereave your nation of children,’ ¹⁴ therefore you shall devour men no more, nor bereave your nation anymore,” says the Lord God. ^15 (U)“Nor will I let you hear the taunts of the nations anymore, nor bear the reproach of the peoples anymore, nor shall you cause your nation to stumble anymore,” says the Lord God.’ ”

The Renewal of Israel

¹⁶ Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ¹⁷ “Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, ^(V)they defiled it by their own ways and deeds; to Me their way was like ^(W)the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity. ¹⁸ Therefore I poured out My fury on them ^(X)for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. ¹⁹ So I ^(Y)scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them ^(Z)according to their ways and their deeds. ²⁰ When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they ^(AA)profaned My holy name—when they said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they have gone out of His land.’ ²¹ But I had concern ^(AB)for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went.

²² “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, ^(AC)but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. ²³ And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I am ^(AD)hallowed in you before their eyes. ²⁴ For ^(AE)I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. ^25 (AF)Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you ^(AG)from all your filthiness and from all your idols. ²⁶ I will give you a ^(AH)new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ I will put My ^(AI)Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. ^28 (AJ)Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; ^(AK)you shall be My people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ I will ^(AL)deliver you from all your uncleannesses. ^(AM)I will call for the grain and multiply it, and ^(AN)bring no famine upon you. ^30 (AO)And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations. ³¹ Then ^(AP)you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you ^(AQ)will ^[e]loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations. ^32 (AR)Not for your sake do I do this,” says the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!”

³³ ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, ^(AS)and the ruins shall be rebuilt. ³⁴ The desolate land shall be tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by. ³⁵ So they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of ^(AT)Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ ³⁶ Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. ^(AU)I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it.”

³⁷ ‘Thus says the Lord God: ^(AV)“I will also let the house of Israel inquire of Me to do this for them: I will ^(AW)increase their men like a flock. ³⁸ Like a ^[f]flock offered as holy sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem on its ^[g]feast days, so shall the ruined cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”

³ For behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that ^(A)I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ^(B)‘And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’ ”

³³ Thus says the Lord of hosts:

God Will Preserve Israel^(A)

⁷ And ^(A)I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places ^(B)as at the first. ⁸ I will ^(C)cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me. ^9 (D)Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall ^(E)fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.’

¹⁰ “Thus says the Lord: ‘Again there shall be heard in this place—^(F)of which you say, “It is desolate, without man and without beast”—in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, ¹¹ the ^(G)voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say:

and of those who will bring ^(I)the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,’ says the Lord.

¹² “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(J)‘In this place which is desolate, without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall again be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. ^13 (K)In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall again ^(L)pass under the hands of him who counts them,’ says the Lord.

^14 (M)‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that ^(N)I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:

^[a]THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’

¹⁷ “For thus says the Lord: ‘David shall never ^(P)lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; ¹⁸ nor shall the ^(Q)priests, the Levites, lack a man to ^(R)offer burnt offerings before Me, to ^[b]kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.’ ”

The Permanence of God’s Covenant

¹⁹ And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁰ “Thus says the Lord: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, ²¹ then ^(S)My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. ²² As ^(T)the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I ^(U)multiply the descendants of David My servant and the ^(V)Levites who minister to Me.’ ”

²³ Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁴ “Have you not considered what these people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the Lord has chosen, He has also cast them off’? Thus they have ^(W)despised My people, as if they should no more be a nation before them.

²⁵ “Thus says the Lord: ‘If ^(X)My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not ^(Y)appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, ^26 (Z)then I will ^(AA)cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return, and will have mercy on them.’ ”

³⁷ Behold, I will ^(A)gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them ^(B)to dwell safely. ³⁸ They shall be ^(C)My people, and I will be their God; ³⁹ then I will ^(D)give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. ⁴⁰ And ^(E)I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but ^(F)I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me. ⁴¹ Yes, ^(G)I will rejoice over them to do them good, and ^(H)I will ^[a]assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.’

⁴² “For thus says the Lord: ^(I)‘Just as I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them. ⁴³ And fields will be bought in this land ^(J)of which you say, “It is desolate, without man or beast; it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” ⁴⁴ Men will buy fields for money, sign deeds and seal them, and take witnesses, in ^(K)the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the ^[b]lowland, and in the cities of the ^[c]South; for ^(L)I will cause their captives to return,’ says the Lord.”