Our Father Speaks Hope to the Mountains
36 1 And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of our Father.
2 Thus says the Sovereign Father: Because the enemy said of you, "Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession," 3 therefore prophesy and say: Thus says the Sovereign Father: Because they made you desolate and trampled you from every side, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations and the object of gossip and slander of the people, 4 therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Father. Thus says the Sovereign Father to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys, to the desolate ruins and the abandoned cities that have become plunder and a mockery to the rest of the nations all around:
5 therefore thus says the Sovereign Father: Surely in the fire of my jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who with wholehearted joy and utter contempt seized my land as their own, to plunder its pasture.
6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: Thus says the Sovereign Father: Look, I have spoken in my jealousy and my wrath, because you have borne the insults of the nations.
7 Therefore thus says the Sovereign Father: I have lifted my hand in oath—surely the nations that surround you will themselves bear their insults.
8 But you, mountains of Israel, will put out your branches and bear your fruit for my children Israel, for they are about to come home.
9 For behold, I am for you; I will turn toward you, and you will be tilled and sown. 10 I will multiply people upon you—the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. 11 I will multiply on you both people and animals, and they will increase and be fruitful. I will settle you as in your former days and do you more good than at your beginnings. Then you will know that I am your Father.
12 I will cause people to walk on you—my children Israel; they will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will never again bereave them of children.
13 Thus says the Sovereign Father: Because they say to you, "You devour people and bereave your nation of children," 14 therefore you will no longer devour people or bereave your nation of children, declares the Sovereign Father. 15 I will no longer let you hear the insults of the nations, and you will no longer bear the reproach of the peoples, and you will no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Sovereign Father.
16 The word of our Father came to me, saying:
17 Son of man, when the house of Israel lived on their own land, they defiled it with their ways and their deeds. Their way before me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. 18 So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood they had shed on the land and because they defiled it with their idols.
19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the lands. According to their ways and their deeds I judged them. 20 But when they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, "These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave his land." 21 But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they went.
Our Father Gives a New Heart and Spirit
22 Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Sovereign Father: It is not for your sake that I am about to act, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you profaned among the nations to which you went. 23 I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Father, declares the Sovereign Father, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.
24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; from all your impurities and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put my Spirit within you and move you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my ordinances and do them.
28 You will live in the land I gave to your fathers; you will be my children, and I will be your Father. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and make it abundant, and I will lay no famine upon you. 30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will never again bear the disgrace of famine among the nations.
31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. 32 It is not for your sake that I am acting, declares the Sovereign Father—let that be known to you. Be ashamed and humiliated for your ways, house of Israel.
33 Thus says the Sovereign Father: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will resettle the cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be tilled, instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by. 35 They will say, "This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the ruined, desolate, demolished cities are now fortified and inhabited."
36 Then the nations that remain around you will know that I, the Father, have rebuilt what was demolished and replanted what was desolate. I, your Father, have spoken, and I will do it.
37 Thus says the Sovereign Father: This too I will let the house of Israel ask of me to do for them: I will multiply their people like a flock. 38 Like the flock for offerings, like the flock of Jerusalem at her appointed feasts, so will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am your Father.