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The Prophets · Old Testament

Ezekiel 36

Ezekiel 36: the mountains of Israel restored and a new heart promised

General context

The prophet is told to prophesy to the mountains of Israel. The enemy has said "Aha" and claimed the ancient high places; the mountains have been made desolate, swallowed up and made an infamy. The Lord speaks in the fire of his jealousy against the residue of the heathen and all Idumea, who took his land with joy and despite. The heathen around will bear their shame, but the mountains will shoot forth branches and yield fruit for Israel, who are at hand to come. The Lord is for them: they will be tilled and sown, filled with men and beasts, their cities inhabited and wastes built, and settled better than at their beginnings. The land, accused of devouring men and bereaving its nations, will do so no more. A second word recalls how Israel defiled its land by bloodshed and idols, so the Lord scattered them; among the heathen they profaned his holy name, when it was said that the Lord's people had gone out of his land. He acts not for their sake but for his holy name. He will gather them, sprinkle clean water on them, cleanse them from filthiness and idols, give a new heart and a new spirit, replace the stony heart with a heart of flesh, put his spirit within them so they walk in his statutes, and settle them in the land. He will end famine. They will remember their evil ways and loathe themselves. The wastes will be built, the desolate land tilled, and people will say it has become like the garden of Eden. The heathen left round about will know the Lord builds and plants, and the waste cities will be filled with men like the holy flock of Jerusalem at her feasts.

Cited passages: Ezekiel 36:1, Ezekiel 36:2, Ezekiel 36:3, Ezekiel 36:5, Ezekiel 36:7, Ezekiel 36:8, Ezekiel 36:9, Ezekiel 36:10, Ezekiel 36:11, Ezekiel 36:13, Ezekiel 36:17, Ezekiel 36:18, Ezekiel 36:20, Ezekiel 36:22, Ezekiel 36:24, Ezekiel 36:25, Ezekiel 36:26, Ezekiel 36:27, Ezekiel 36:29, Ezekiel 36:31, Ezekiel 36:35, Ezekiel 36:36, Ezekiel 36:38

Ezekiel 36 (KJV)

1Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord:

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

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:

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;

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.

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:

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

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

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:

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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:

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The chapter holds two words. The first continues from the oracle against mount Seir with "Also, thou son of man" and is addressed to the land itself, its mountains, hills, rivers, valleys, wastes and forsaken cities; Idumea is named again among the offenders. The second opens with "Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me". Neither is dated. The reason for the scattering is stated as Israel's own bloodshed and idols, and the reason for the return is stated twice as the Lord's holy name, "Not for your sakes". The profaning of the name is explained by a saying among the heathen about the Lord's people having left his land. "The uncleanness of a removed woman" is the KJV's phrase for the comparison in verse 17. The accusation that the land devours men is quoted as what "they say". The comparison with "the garden of Eden" is put in the mouths of onlookers. The text sets no time for the gathering and says only that Israel is "at hand to come". Verse 37 says the Lord will "be enquired of" for this by the house of Israel.

Cited passages: Ezekiel 36:1, Ezekiel 36:4, Ezekiel 36:5, Ezekiel 36:16, Ezekiel 36:19, Ezekiel 36:32, Ezekiel 36:17, Ezekiel 36:13, Ezekiel 36:8, Ezekiel 36:37

Literary context

The first word mirrors the oracle against mount Seir point for point. Seir was a mountain made desolate; the mountains of Israel are told they will bear fruit. The enemy's "Aha" repeats the word charged against Ammon and Tyrus earlier in the book. Shame changes hands within a few verses: Israel's mountains "have borne the shame of the heathen", and then the heathen "shall bear their shame". The second word is framed by the same disclaimer at start and end, "I do not this for your sakes" and "Not for your sakes do I this", so that the promise of restoration is deliberately set inside a statement about the Lord's name. The promise itself is a sequence of first-person verbs: take, gather, bring, sprinkle, cleanse, give, put, cause. The contrast of a "stony heart" and "an heart of flesh" is the sharpest image in the chapter. Restoration does not remove memory; the people are to remember their evil ways and loathe themselves. The closing flock image picks up the shepherd chapter, and the picture of ruined cities as the garden of Eden reverses the desolation language of the whole section.

Cited passages: Ezekiel 35:3, Ezekiel 36:8, Ezekiel 36:2, Ezekiel 26:2, Ezekiel 36:6, Ezekiel 36:7, Ezekiel 36:22, Ezekiel 36:32, Ezekiel 36:26, Ezekiel 36:31, Ezekiel 36:38, Ezekiel 36:35

Key moments

  1. Prophesy to the mountains (Ezekiel 36:1). The prophet addresses the mountains of Israel, which the enemy has claimed.
  2. Tilled and sown again (Ezekiel 36:9). The Lord says he is for the mountains and they will be tilled and sown.
  3. Not for your sakes (Ezekiel 36:22). The Lord says he acts for his holy name, which Israel profaned among the heathen.
  4. Clean water sprinkled (Ezekiel 36:25). The Lord promises to cleanse Israel from filthiness and idols.
  5. A heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). The stony heart is to be replaced with a new heart and a new spirit.
  6. Like the garden of Eden (Ezekiel 36:35). Onlookers will say the desolate land has become like Eden and the ruined cities are fenced.
  7. Cities filled like a flock (Ezekiel 36:38). The waste cities will be filled with men like the holy flock at Jerusalem's feasts.

For reflection

The Lord says twice that the restoration is "not for your sakes" but for his name, and that the restored people will loathe themselves for their past. What does it do to a gift to be told plainly that you are not the reason for it?

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