1 ¶ Son of man, also prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD:

2 Thus says the Lord GOD; Because the enemy has spoken against you saying, Aha, even the ancient high places have become our possession:

3 Therefore prophesy and say, The Lord GOD says; Because they made you desolate, and have trampled you on every side, so that the heathen who remain might take possession of you, and you have become the object of people’s gossip and slander:

4 Therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate ruins, and to the deserted cities, that have become a prey and source of mockery to the rest of the heathen who are around you;

5 The Lord GOD says this; Surely in the fire of my jealousy I have spoken against the heathen who remain, and against all Edom, which has taken my land for their own with glee and contempt of heart, to empty it and possess it as their plunder.

6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because you have had to endure the scorn of the heathen:

7 Therefore the Lord GOD says; I have lifted up my hand, Surely the heathen who are around you will bear their shame.

8 But you, O mountains of Israel, you will shoot forth branches, and produce fruit for my people Israel; for they will come home soon.

9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be plowed and planted:

10 And I will multiply men upon you, the entire house of Israel, all of it: and the cities will be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt:

11 And I will cause many men and animals to live upon you; and they will thrive and reproduce: and I will cause you to be inhabited as you once were, and will do better for you than at the beginning: and you will know that I am the LORD.

12 Yes, I will cause my people Israel to live upon you; and they will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will no longer deprive them of their children.

13 Thus says the Lord GOD; Because they say of you, You devour your people, and rob your nation of their children;

14 You will no longer devour people, or cause your nation to stumble, says the Lord GOD.

15 Nor will I make you listen to the scorn of the heathen any longer, or suffer the scorn of the nations any longer, nor will you cause your own nation to sin any more, says the Lord GOD.

16 ¶ The word of the LORD then came to me, saying,

17 Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by the way they lived and by what they did: their way of life was to me like the uncleanness of a menstruating woman.

18 Therefore I poured out my fury upon them because of the blood that they had shed on the land, and because of their idols with which they had polluted it:

19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the nations: I punished them in keeping with the way they lived and the things they did.

20 And when they entered those nations where they went, they profaned my holy name, in that men said of them, These are the people of the LORD, and yet they had to leave his land.

21 But I will spare the house of Israel for the sake of my holy name, which they defiled among the heathen, where they went.

22 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD; I am not doing this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the heathen, where you went.

23 And I will vindicate my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which you have profaned among them; and the heathen will know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD, when I am vindicated in you before their eyes.

24 For I will remove you from among the heathen, and gather you from all nations, and will bring you into your own land.

25 ¶ Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you will be clean: I will cleanse you of all your filthiness, and of all your idols.

26 I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you: and I will remove the stony heart from your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my spirit in you, and cause you to follow my orders, and you will keep my judgments, and do them.

28 And you will dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you will be my people, and I will be your God.

29 I will also save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the grain, and increase it, and lay no famine on you.

30 And I will multiply the fruit of the trees, and the increase of the fields, so that you will no longer be disgraced among the nations, by famine.

31 Then you will remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and will loath yourselves in your own sight because of your sins and because of your abominations.

32 I am not doing this for your sake, says the Lord GOD; you should know that your ways, O house of Israel, should make you feel ashamed and humiliated.

33 The Lord GOD says; In the day when I cleanse you of all your sins I will cause people to live in your cities again, and the ruins will be rebuilt.

34 And the desolate land will be tilled, instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who passed through.

35 And they will say, This land that was desolate is now like the garden of Eden; and the cities that were once ruined, desolate, and destroyed have walls and are inhabited.

36 Then the heathen who are left around you will know that I the LORD rebuild the ruins, and replant the land that was desolate: I the LORD have decreed it, and I will do it.

37 Thus says the Lord GOD; I will also let the house of Israel ask me to do this for them; I will increase their population like a flock.

38 Like a holy flock, like a flock at the solemn feasts in Jerusalem; so the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of men: and they will know that I am the LORD.