Ezekiel 36:8-18

8 Forsooth, ye hills of Israel, bring forth your branches, and bring ye fruit to my people Israel; for it is nigh that it come.

9 For lo! I to you (For lo! I am for you), and I shall turn to you, and ye shall be eared, and shall take seed.

10 And in you I shall multiply men, and all the house of Israel; and cities shall be inhabited, and ruinous things shall be repaired. (And I shall multiply people in you, in all the house of Israel; and cities shall be inhabited, and the ruined places shall be repaired.)

11 And I shall fill you with men and beasts, and they shall be multiplied, and shall increase; and I shall make you to dwell as at the beginning, and I shall reward (you) with more goods than ye had at the beginning; and ye shall know, that I am the Lord. (And I shall fill you with people and beasts, and they shall be multiplied, and shall increase; and I shall make you to live like at the beginning, and I shall reward you with more good things than ye had at the beginning; and ye shall know, that I am the Lord.)

12 And I shall bring men on you, my people Israel, and by heritage they shall wield thee, and thou shalt be to them into heritage; and thou shalt no more lay to, that thou be without them. (And I shall bring back your people, yea, my people Israel, and by inheritance they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance; and thou shalt no more be without them.)

13 The Lord God saith these things, For that that they say of you (Because they say of you), Thou art a devouress of men, and stranglest thy folk;

14 therefore thou shalt no more eat men, and thou shalt no more slay thy folk, saith the Lord God. (and so thou shalt no more eat the people, and thou shalt no more kill thy nation, saith the Lord God.)

15 And I shall no more make heard in thee the shame of heathen men, and thou shalt no more bear the shame of peoples, and thou shalt no more lose thy folk, saith the Lord God. (And I shall no more make heard in thee the shame of the heathen, and thou shalt no more bear the shame of the nations, and thou shalt no more destroy thy people, saith the Lord God.)

16 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and he said,

17 Thou, son of man, the house of Israel dwelled in their land, and they defouled it in their ways, and in their studies; by the uncleanness of a woman in rotten blood the way of them is made before me. (Thou, son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it with their ways, and with their deeds; their ways were made before me like the uncleanness of a woman in her rotten blood.)

18 And I shedded out mine indignation on them, for [the] blood which they shedded on the land, and in their idols they defouled it. (And I poured out my indignation upon them, for the blood which they poured out upon the land, and for their idols with which they defiled it.)

Ezekiel 36:8-18 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.