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Ezekiel 36

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Prophecy Against the Mountains' Enemies 1–7

1
And thou, son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of Jehovah. ​
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Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha! and, The ancient high places are ours in possession; ​
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therefore prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because, even because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the nations, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and the evil report of the people;
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therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Jehovah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which are become a prey and derision to the residue of the nations that are round about;
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therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, that have appointed my land unto themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with despite of soul, to cast it out for a prey. ​
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Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because ye have borne the shame of the nations:
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therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I have sworn, saying, Surely the nations that are round about you, they shall bear their shame. ​

Restoration of the Land Promised 8–15

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But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come. ​
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For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown;
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and I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded;
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and I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former estate, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. ​
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Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of children.
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Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because they say unto you, Thou land art a devourer of men, and hast been a bereaver of thy nation; ​
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therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nation any more, saith the Lord Jehovah;
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neither will I let thee hear any more the shame of the nations, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nation to stumble any more, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Israel's Sin and God's Holy Name 16–23

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Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
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Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings: their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. ​
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Wherefore I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood which they had poured out upon the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols;
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and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.
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And when they came unto the nations, whither they went, they profaned my holy name; in that men said of them, These are the people of Jehovah, and are gone forth out of his land. ​
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But I had regard for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, whither they went.
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Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I do not this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name, which ye have profaned among the nations, whither ye went. ​
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And I will sanctify my great name, which hath been profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, saith the Lord Jehovah, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

The New Heart and Spirit 24–32

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For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. ​
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And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. ​
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A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. ​
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And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep mine ordinances, and do them. ​
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And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. ​
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And I will save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine upon you.
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And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations.
31
Then shall ye remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. ​
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Nor for your sake do Ithis, saith the Lord Jehovah, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel. ​

Final Prosperity and Recognition 33–38

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Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded.
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And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all that passed by.
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And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited. ​
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Then the nations that are left round about you shall know that I, Jehovah, have builded the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate: I, Jehovah, have spoken it, and I will do it. ​
37
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: For this, moreover, will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock. ​
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As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezekiel 36

Verse 1

the mountains of Israel — Ezekiel had been told to 'set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them' (6:2), with a sword and the destruction of their high places (6:3). The same address now carries a promise, and v.4 widens it to the hills, rivers, valleys and ruined cities.

Verse 2

Aha — He'ach, the cry of gloating, heard from Ammon over the sanctuary (25:3) and from Tyrus over Jerusalem (26:2); in Ezekiel it stands only in these three verses. The boast over 'the ancient high places' repeats mount Seir's claim, 'These two nations and these two countries shall be mine' (35:10).

Verse 5

the fire of my jealousy — Qin'ah, a zeal that will not share what is its own; 'the fire of my jealousy' is also in Zeph 3:8. It is spoken against 'all Idumea', the KJV's form of Edom, which took the land 'with the joy of all their heart', as Edom 'didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel' (35:15).

Verse 7

I have lifted up mine hand — The gesture of an oath, used when the LORD 'lifted up mine hand' to Israel in Egypt (20:5–6). The sentence turns v.6 round: the mountains 'have borne the shame of the heathen', and now the heathen 'shall bear their shame', the same verb (nasa) in both verses.

Verse 8

ye shall shoot forth your branches — Where the mountains bore shame (v.6) they now bear fruit, and the fruit is for 'my people of Israel'. It is the sign that the return is near: they 'are at hand to come' (qarab, to draw near). The same fruitfulness is promised in 34:26–27, with showers 'in his season'.

Verse 11

do better unto you than at your beginnings — 'Multiply' and 'bring fruit' are the words of the first blessing, 'Be fruitful, and multiply' (Gen 1:28; parah, rabah), here said of both 'man and beast'. The land is to be settled 'after your old estates', and the promise is of more than a return to what was.

Verse 13

Thou land devourest up men — The taunt repeats the spies' report, 'a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof' (Num 13:32), with the same verb (akal, to eat). The nations said the land itself consumed its people, and v.14 answers it with the same verb: 'Therefore thou shalt devour men no more.'

Verse 17

the uncleanness of a removed woman — Niddah is the woman 'put apart seven days' in Lev 15:19. Israel's 'way' and 'doings' defiled the land, as shed blood 'defileth the land' (Num 35:33–34). 'Uncleanness' (tum'ah) is the word rendered 'filthiness' in v.25, where the sprinkled water removes it.

Verse 20

they profaned my holy name — Israel's scattering was read as the LORD's failure: 'These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.' Paul applies the same complaint to those who boasted in the law: 'The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written' (Rom 2:24; cf. Isa 52:5).

Verse 22

for mine holy name's sake — The reason for the return is given before the cleansing of vv.25–27: not Israel's worth but the name they 'profaned among the heathen'. The same ground stands in Ps 106:8, 'he saved them for his name's sake', and Isa 48:11, 'For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it'.

Verse 24

take you from among the heathen — Three verbs in order: laqach (take), qabats (gather), bo (bring in). The sequence is the same in 37:21, 'I will take… and will gather them… and bring them into their own land'. The gathering is stated first, and the cleansing of vv.25–27 follows it.

Verse 25

sprinkle clean water — Zaraq is the verb for sprinkling blood on the altar (Lev 1:5) and the water of separation on the unclean (Num 19:13). 'Filthiness' is tum'ah, the 'uncleanness' of v.17. The New Testament speaks of 'our bodies washed with pure water' (Heb 10:22) and of the 'washing of regeneration' (Titus 3:5).

Verse 26

A new heart also will I give you — The command of 18:31, 'make you a new heart and a new spirit', is here the LORD's own work, 'will I give', as in 11:19. 'Stony' is eben, stone. Paul says the Spirit writes 'not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart' (2 Cor 3:3), and Jeremiah 31:33 has the law written 'in their hearts'.

Verse 27

I will put my spirit within you — The new heart is made to obey by the Spirit, who will 'cause you to walk in my statutes'. Paul gives the result: 'the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit' (Rom 8:4). 'Born of water and of the Spirit' (John 3:5) joins vv.25 and 27.

Verse 28

ye shall be my people, and I will be your God — The covenant formula of Lev 26:12, repeated in Jer 31:33 and Ezek 37:27. The promise made to the fathers is kept in the same land (20:42, 'for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers'), and Rev 21:3 carries the words to the end: 'they shall be his people'.

Verse 31

shall lothe yourselves — Qut, to feel disgust; the verb stands with remembering in 6:9 and 20:43. In 20:42–43 the remembering and loathing come after the return to the land. Here they follow the cleansing of vv.25–29: so the LORD's gift comes first and the loathing follows it.

Verse 32

Not for your sakes do I this — The words of v.22 are repeated to close the promise. They echo Moses' warning, 'Not for thy righteousness' (Deut 9:5), and Paul's 'not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace' (2 Tim 1:9). 'Ashamed and confounded' are bosh and kalam.

Verse 35

the garden of Eden — Gan-eden. Isaiah says the same of Zion: 'he will make her wilderness like Eden' (Isa 51:3), and Joel 2:3 states the reverse, 'the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness'. 'Fenced' (batsar) is the word for walled cities, as in Deut 3:5.

Verse 36

I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant — 'Build' and 'plant' are the pair that closes Jeremiah's commission (Jer 1:10) and his promise, 'so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant' (Jer 31:28). The assurance 'I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it' recalls 22:14 and 37:14.

Verse 37

I will yet for this be enquired of — Darash, to seek by asking. The LORD had refused such enquiry from idolaters (14:3, 'should I be enquired of at all by them?'). The promise is sure, and prayer is still asked for it, as when Daniel, reading Jeremiah's seventy years, 'set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer' (Dan 9:2–3).

Verse 38

the holy flock — 'Holy' is qodesh, things set apart for offering, here the animals brought to Jerusalem 'in her solemn feasts'; at the temple's dedication Solomon offered 'an hundred and twenty thousand sheep' (1 Kgs 8:63). The cities are to fill with 'flocks of men', as 34:31 says, 'ye my flock… are men'.