Ezekiel 36:25-38

25 1I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from 2all your uncleannesses, and 3from all your idols 4I will cleanse you.
26 And I will give you 5a new heart, and 6a new spirit I will put within you. 7And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27 8And I will put my Spirit within you, 9and cause you to walk in my statutes and 10be careful to obey my rules.[a]
28 11You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and 12you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
29 And 13I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And 14I will summon the grain and make it abundant and 15lay no famine upon you.
30 16I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, 17that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.
31 Then 18you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations.
32 19It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.
33 "Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day that 20I cleanse you from all your iniquities, 21I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt.
34 And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by.
35 And they will say, 'This land that was desolate has become like 22the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.'
36 Then 23the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the LORD; I have rebuilt the ruined places and 24replanted that which was desolate. 25I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it.
37 "Thus says the Lord GOD: This also 26I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: 27to increase their people like 28a flock.
38 Like the flock for sacrifices,[b]29like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so 30shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of people. 31Then they will know that I am the LORD."

Ezekiel 36:25-38 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 36

This chapter is a prophecy concerning the desolations of the land of Israel, and the causes of them; of the return of the people to it, and the fruitfulness of it; and of spiritual blessings bestowed upon them in the latter day. And first, for the comfort of the people of Israel, it is observed that their enemies that insulted them will suffer the vengeance of God's wrath, particularly the Edomites, Eze 36:1-7, that the land of Israel should again become fruitful, its cities rebuilt, men and beasts be multiplied upon it, and be no more liable to destruction, nor bear any more the reproach of the Heathen, Eze 36:8-15, the causes of its desolation and destruction, the sins of its inhabitants, especially bloodshed, idolatry, and profanation of the name of God, Eze 36:16-20, nevertheless the Lord promises to have mercy on them, and return them to their own land, not for their sakes, but for his own name's sake, Eze 36:21-24, then follow promises of spiritual blessings to them: as purification from all sin by the blood of Christ; regeneration by his Spirit and grace; and evangelical obedience as the fruit of that, Eze 36:25-27, and others of a mixed kind, respecting partly temporal and partly spiritual blessings, Eze 36:28-36, for all which it is expected of the Lord that he should be prayed unto for them; particularly their inhabitation in their own land, and the multiplication of them in it, with which the chapter concludes, Eze 36:37,38.

Cross References 31

Footnotes 2

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.