1And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of Yahweh!
2Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because the enemy has said against you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The ancient high places have become our possession’—
3therefore prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because, yes because, they made you desolate and snapped at you from every side, so that you became a possession for the remnant of the nations, and you were taken up on the lips of talkers and the slander of the people—
4therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate ruins and to the abandoned cities that have become plunder and derision to the remnant of the nations round about—
5therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Surely in the fire of my jealousy I have spoken against the remnant of the nations and against Edom—all of it—who assigned my land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt of soul, in order to plunder its pastureland.
6Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys: Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because you have borne the reproach of the nations.
7Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: I myself have lifted my hand in oath: Surely the nations that are around you—they themselves shall bear their reproach.
8But you, mountains of Israel, shall put forth your branches and bear your fruit for my people Israel, for they are near to come.
9For behold, I am for you, and I will turn toward you, and you shall be tilled and sown.
10And I will multiply people upon you—the whole house of Israel, all of it—and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.
11And I will multiply upon you human and beast, and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will settle you as in your former times and do more good for you than at your beginnings. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.
12And I will cause people to walk upon you—my people Israel—and they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer bereave them of children.
13Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because they say to you, ‘You are a devourer of people, and you have bereaved your nation of children,’
14therefore you shall no longer devour people, and you shall no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord Yahweh.
15And I will no longer let you hear the reproach of the nations, and the taunt of the peoples you shall bear no more, and you shall no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord Yahweh.
16And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying:
17Son of man, when the house of Israel was dwelling on their own land, they defiled it by their ways and by their deeds; like the uncleanness of a menstruating woman was their way before me.
18So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had poured out on the land, and because they defiled it with their idols.
19And I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the lands; according to their way and according to their deeds I judged them.
20But when they came to the nations where they came, they profaned my holy name, when it was said of them, ‘These are the people of Yahweh, yet from his land they went out.’
21But I had pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they came.
22Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord Yahweh: It is not for your sake that I am acting, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you profaned among the nations where you came.
23And I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you profaned in their midst; then the nations will know that I am Yahweh, declares the Lord Yahweh, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.
24And I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the lands and bring you to your own land.
25And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean; from all your uncleannesses and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
26And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27And my Spirit I will put within you, and I will make it so that you walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and do them.
28And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I myself will be your God.
29And I will save you from all your uncleannesses; and I will call to the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring famine upon you.
30And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will never again receive the disgrace of famine among the nations.
31Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves to your own faces because of your iniquities and your abominations.
32Not for your sake am I acting, declares the Lord Yahweh — let it be known to you. Be ashamed and humiliated because of your ways, house of Israel.
33Thus says the Lord Yahweh: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will resettle the cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt.
34And the desolate land will be tilled, instead of lying a desolation before the eyes of every passerby.
35And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the cities that were ruined and desolate and demolished are now fortified and inhabited.’
36Then the nations that remain around you will know that I, Yahweh, have rebuilt what was demolished and replanted what was desolate. I, Yahweh, have spoken, and I will do it.
37Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This too I will let the house of Israel seek from me, to do for them — I will multiply them like a flock with people.
38Like the flock for holy offerings, like the flock of Jerusalem at her appointed feasts, so shall the ruined cities be filled with a flock of people. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.
Open in the interactive reader →