Ezekiel 36:3

3 therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Precisely because ¹they made you desolate and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and ²you became the talk and evil gossip of the people,

Ezekiel 36:3 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 36:3

Therefore prophesy and say, thus saith the Lord God
Who heard all the enemy said, and knew all their designs and purposes, their schemes and devices: because they have made you desolate;
ravaged their country, destroyed their cities, burnt their temple, and carried them captive, and left the land without men or cattle: and swallowed you up on every side;
all their neighbours, being their enemies, were like ravenous beasts of prey, gaping upon them with their mouths; and, observing the low condition into which they were brought by the king of Babylon, helped forward the destruction; and everyone shared in the spoil and plunder nearest to them they could conveniently come at: that ye might be a possession to the residue of the Heathen;
either to those that were left in the land by the king of Babylon, or to the rest of the Heathen nations round about them: ye are taken up in the lips of talkers,
and are an infamy of the people; reproached, defamed, and made a proverb and byword, by every foul mouthed prating fellow.

Ezekiel 36:3 In-Context

1 "And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD.

2 Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the enemy said of you, 'Aha!' and, 'The ancient heights have become our possession,'

3 therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Precisely because they made you desolate and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you became the talk and evil gossip of the people,

4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains and the hills, the ravines and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which have become a prey and derision to the rest of the nations all around,

5 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Surely I have spoken in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave my land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, that they might make its pasturelands a prey.

Cross References

• 1. [Ezekiel 6:3, 4]
• 2. [Lamentations 2:15, 16]