Ezekiel 35; Ezekiel 36; Ezekiel 37

1 The Lord spoke to me.

2 "Mortal man," he said, "denounce the country of Edom.

3 Tell the people what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: "I am your enemy, mountains of Edom! I will make you a desolate wasteland.

4 I will leave your cities in ruins And your land desolate; Then you will know that I am the Lord.

5 "You were Israel's constant enemy and let her people be slaughtered in the time of her disaster, the time of final punishment for her sins.

6 So then - as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God - death is your fate, and you cannot escape it. You are guilty of murder, and murder will follow you.

7 I will make the hill country of Edom a wasteland and kill everyone who travels through it.

8 I will cover the mountains with corpses, and the bodies of those who are killed in battle will cover the hills and valleys.

9 I will make you desolate forever, and no one will live in your cities again. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

10 "You said that the two nations, Judah and Israel, together with their lands, belonged to you and that you would possess them, even though I, the Lord, was their God.

11 So then, as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I will pay you back for your anger, your jealousy, and your hate toward my people. They will know that I am punishing you for what you did to them.

12 Then you will know that I, the Lord, heard you say with contempt that the mountains of Israel were desolate and that they were yours to devour.

13 I have heard the wild, boastful way you have talked against me."

14 The Sovereign Lord says, "I will make you so desolate that the whole world will rejoice at your downfall,

15 just as you rejoiced at the devastation of Israel, my own possession. The mountains of Seir, yes, all the land of Edom, will be desolate. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord."

1 The Lord said, "Mortal man, speak to the mountains of Israel and tell them to listen to the message which I,

2 the Sovereign Lord, have for them: Israel's enemies gloated and said, "Now those ancient hills are ours!'

3 "Prophesy, then, and announce what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying. When the neighboring nations captured and plundered the mountains of Israel, everyone made fun of Israel.

4 So now listen to what I, the Sovereign Lord, say to you mountains and hills, to you brooks and valleys, to you places that were left in ruins, and to you deserted cities which were plundered and mocked by all the surrounding nations.

5 "I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken out in the heat of my anger against the surrounding nations, and especially against Edom. With glee and contempt they captured my land and took possession of its pastures.

6 "So prophesy to the land of Israel; tell the mountains, hills, brooks, and valleys what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying in jealous anger because of the way the nations have insulted and humiliated them.

7 I, the Sovereign Lord, solemnly promise that the surrounding nations will be humiliated.

8 But on the mountains of Israel the trees will again grow leaves and bear fruit for you, my people Israel. You are going to come home soon.

9 I am on your side, and I will make sure that your land is plowed again and crops are planted on it.

10 I will make your population grow. You will live in the cities and rebuild everything that was left in ruins.

11 I will make people and cattle increase in number. There will be more of you than ever before, and you will have many children. I will let you live there as you used to live, and I will make you more prosperous than ever. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

12 I will bring you, my people Israel, back to live again in the land. It will be your own land, and it will never again let your children starve.

13 "I, the Sovereign Lord, say: It is true that people say that the land eats people and that it robs the nation of its children.

14 But from now on it will no longer eat people and rob you of your children. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.

15 The land will no longer have to listen to the nations making fun of it or see the peoples sneer at it. The land will no longer rob the nation of its children. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken."

16 The Lord spoke to me.

17 "Mortal man," he said, "when the Israelites were living in their land, they defiled it by the way they lived and acted. I regarded their behavior as being as ritually unclean as a woman is during her monthly period.

18 I let them feel the force of my anger because of the murders they had committed in the land and because of the idols by which they had defiled it.

19 I condemned them for the way they lived and acted, and I scattered them through foreign countries.

20 Wherever they went, they brought disgrace on my holy name, because people would say, "These are the people of the Lord, but they had to leave his land.'

21 That made me concerned for my holy name, since the Israelites brought disgrace on it everywhere they went.

22 "Now then, give the Israelites the message that I, the Sovereign Lord, have for them: What I am going to do is not for the sake of you Israelites, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have disgraced in every country where you have gone.

23 When I demonstrate to the nations the holiness of my great name - the name you disgraced among them - then they will know that I am the Lord. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. I will use you to show the nations that I am holy.

24 I will take you from every nation and country and bring you back to your own land.

25 I will sprinkle clean water on you and make you clean from all your idols and everything else that has defiled you.

26 I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart.

27 I will put my spirit in you and will see to it that you follow my laws and keep all the commands I have given you.

28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors. You will be my people, and I will be your God.

29 I will save you from everything that defiles you. I will command the grain to be plentiful, so that you will not have any more famines.

30 I will increase the yield of your fruit trees and your fields, so that there will be no more famines to disgrace you among the nations.

31 You will remember your evil conduct and the wrongs that you committed, and you will be disgusted with yourselves because of your sins and your iniquities.

32 Israel, I want you to know that I am not doing all this for your sake. I want you to feel the shame and disgrace of what you are doing. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken."

33 The Sovereign Lord says, "When I make you clean from all your sins, I will let you live in your cities again and let you rebuild the ruins.

34 Everyone who used to walk by your fields saw how overgrown and wild they were, but I will let you farm them again.

35 Everyone will talk about how this land, which was once a wilderness, has become like the Garden of Eden, and how the cities which were torn down, looted, and left in ruins, are now inhabited and fortified.

36 Then the neighboring nations that have survived will know that I, the Lord, rebuild ruined cities and replant waste fields. I, the Lord, have promised that I would do this - and I will."

37 The Sovereign Lord says, "I will once again let the Israelites ask me for help, and I will let them increase in numbers like a flock of sheep.

38 The cities that are now in ruins will then be as full of people as Jerusalem was once full of the sheep which were offered as sacrifices at a festival. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

1 I felt the powerful presence of the Lord, and his spirit took me and set me down in a valley where the ground was covered with bones.

2 He led me all around the valley, and I could see that there were very many bones and that they were very dry.

3 He said to me, "Mortal man, can these bones come back to life?" I replied, "Sovereign Lord, only you can answer that!"

4 He said, "Prophesy to the bones. Tell these dry bones to listen to the word of the Lord.

5 Tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them: I am going to put breath into you and bring you back to life.

6 I will give you sinews and muscles, and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you and bring you back to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord."

7 So I prophesied as I had been told. While I was speaking, I heard a rattling noise, and the bones began to join together.

8 While I watched, the bones were covered with sinews and muscles, and then with skin. But there was no breath in the bodies.

9 God said to me, "Mortal man, prophesy to the wind. Tell the wind that the Sovereign Lord commands it to come from every direction, to breathe into these dead bodies, and to bring them back to life."

10 So I prophesied as I had been told. Breath entered the bodies, and they came to life and stood up. There were enough of them to form an army.

11 God said to me, "Mortal man, the people of Israel are like these bones. They say that they are dried up, without any hope and with no future.

12 So prophesy to my people Israel and tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am going to open their graves. I am going to take them out and bring them back to the land of Israel.

13 When I open the graves where my people are buried and bring them out, they will know that I am the Lord.

14 I will put my breath in them, bring them back to life, and let them live in their own land. Then they will know that I am the Lord. I have promised that I would do this - and I will. I, the Lord, have spoken."

15 The Lord spoke to me again.

16 "Mortal man," he said, "take a wooden stick and write on it the words, "The kingdom of Judah.' Then take another stick and write on it the words, "The kingdom of Israel.'

17 Then hold the two sticks end to end in your hand so that they look like one stick.

18 When your people ask you to tell them what this means,

19 tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am going to take the stick representing Israel and put it with the one that represents Judah. Out of the two I will make one stick and hold it in my hand.

20 "Hold in your hand the two sticks and let the people see them.

21 Then tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am going to take all my people out of the nations where they have gone, gather them together, and bring them back to their own land.

22 I will unite them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. They will have one king to rule over them, and they will no longer be divided into two nations or split into two kingdoms.

23 They will not defile themselves with disgusting idols any more or corrupt themselves with sin. I will free them from all the ways in which they sin and betray me. I will purify them; they will be my people, and I will be their God.

24 A king like my servant David will be their king. They will all be united under one ruler and will obey my laws faithfully.

25 They will live on the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They will live there forever, and so will their children and all their descendants. A king like my servant David will rule them forever.

26 I will make a covenant with them that guarantees their security forever. I will establish them and increase their population, and will see to it that my Temple stands forever in their land.

27 I will live there with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.

28 When I place my Temple there to be among them forever, then the nations will know that I, the Lord, have chosen Israel to be my own people."