Ezekiel

Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD:

1God said: Now, son of man, speak my message to the mountains of Israel. Say to them, Mountains of Israel, listen to what the LORD says.

2Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:

2This is what the Lord GOD says: Your enemy laughed at you and said, Good! Those ancient hills belong to us now.

3Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people:

3So speak my message and say, This is what the Lord GOD says: They wrecked you and crushed you from every side, so other nations could take you over. People gossip about you and sneer at your name.

4Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about;

4So listen, mountains of Israel, to what the Lord GOD says. He speaks to the mountains and hills, to the streams and valleys, to the empty ruins and the abandoned towns that the nearby nations robbed and laughed at.

5Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.

5This is what the Lord GOD says: I have spoken with burning anger against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom. They gladly claimed my land as their own and treated it with scorn, taking its pastures as loot.

Note"Idumea" is the older name for Edom, a nation east of Israel and a longtime enemy.

6Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:

6So speak about the land of Israel. Tell the mountains and hills, the streams and valleys, that the Lord GOD says: I have spoken in burning anger, because you have had to carry the insults of the nations.

7Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame.

7This is what the Lord GOD says: I have raised my hand and made a promise. The nations around you will carry their own shame.

8But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.

8But you, mountains of Israel, will grow branches and bear fruit for my people Israel. They are coming home soon.

9For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown:

9Look, I am on your side. I will turn toward you, and your soil will be plowed and planted again.

10And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:

10I will fill you with people, the whole family of Israel, every one of them. The cities will have people living in them, and the ruins will be rebuilt.

11And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

11I will fill you with people and animals, and they will grow in number. I will settle you as you were long ago, and treat you better than at the start. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

12Yea, 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 men.

12I will bring my people Israel to walk on you. They will own you, and you will be their land forever. You will never again take their children from them.

13Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations;

13This is what the Lord GOD says: People say to you, You are a land that eats up men and leaves your nation without children.

14Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord GOD.

14So you will never eat up men again, and never again leave your nation without children, says the Lord GOD.

15Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord GOD.

15I will not let you hear the nations mocking you anymore. You will not carry their insults, and you will not make your nation stumble again, says the Lord GOD.

16Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

16Then the LORD spoke his word to me. He said:

17Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.

17Son of man, when the people of Israel lived in their own land, they made it dirty by the way they lived and the things they did. To me, their way of life was unclean.

NoteThe KJV compares Israel's way of life to a woman's monthly bleeding, which the law of Moses called unclean for a time. The point is that the land had been made unfit, not that women are bad.

18Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it:

18So I poured out my anger on them, because of the blood they spilled on the land and the idols they used to make it filthy.

19And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.

19I scattered them among the nations, and they were spread through many countries. I judged them for the way they lived and the things they did.

20And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.

20Wherever they went among the nations, they brought shame on my holy name. People said about them, These are the LORD's people, and yet they had to leave his land.

21But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.

21But I cared about my holy name, which the people of Israel had shamed among the nations they went to.

22Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.

22So tell the people of Israel that the Lord GOD says: I am not doing this for your sake, Israel. I am doing it for my holy name, which you shamed among the nations you went to.

23And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

23I will show how holy my great name is, the name you shamed among the nations. Then those nations will know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD, when I show my holiness through you, right in front of them.

24For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

24I will take you out from among the nations. I will gather you from every country and bring you back to your own land.

25Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

25Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will wash away all your filth and all your idols.

26A 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 an heart of flesh.

26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit inside you. I will take out your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

27And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

27I will put my Spirit inside you. I will lead you to follow my rules and to carefully obey my laws.

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

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

29I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.

29I will save you from everything that made you unclean. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful, and I will not send hunger on you.

Note"Corn" in 1611 English meant grain of any kind, such as wheat or barley, not the yellow corn on the cob.

30And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.

30I will make the trees give more fruit and the fields give bigger harvests. Then the nations will never again mock you for going hungry.

31Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

31Then you will remember your evil ways and the wrong things you did. You will hate yourselves for your sins and the disgusting things you did.

32Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.

32I am not doing this for your sake, says the Lord GOD. Understand that clearly. Be ashamed and embarrassed about the way you lived, people of Israel.

33Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.

33This is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I wash you clean from all your sins, I will fill the cities with people again, and the ruins will be rebuilt.

34And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.

34The empty land will be farmed again, instead of lying bare for every traveler to see.

35And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.

35People will say, This land that was empty has become like the garden of Eden. The cities that were ruined and wrecked and empty now have walls and people.

36Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.

36Then the nations left around you will know that I, the LORD, rebuild what was destroyed and replant what was bare. I, the LORD, have said it, and I will do it.

37Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.

37This is what the Lord GOD says: Once more I will listen to the people of Israel when they ask me for this. I will make them as many as a flock of sheep.

38As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

38There were huge flocks brought to Jerusalem for the special feasts. In the same way, the ruined cities will be filled with crowds of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.