Ezekiel 36:16-38

16 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
17 Son of man, when the house of Yisra'el lived 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.
18 Therefore I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols;
19 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.
20 When they came to the nations, where they went, they profaned my holy name; in that men said of them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.
21 But I had regard for my holy name, which the house of Yisra'el had profaned among the nations, where they went.
22 Therefore tell the house of Yisra'el, Thus says the Lord GOD: I don't do [this] for your sake, house of Yisra'el, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, where you went.
23 I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
24 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.
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 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.
27 I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.
28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
29 I will save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you.
30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations.
31 Then shall you remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
32 Nor for your sake do I [this], says the Lord GOD, be it known to you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Yisra'el.
33 Thus says the Lord GOD: 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 built.
34 The land that was desolate shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all who passed by.
35 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.
36 Then the nations that are left round about you shall know that I, the LORD, have built the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate: I, the LORD, have spoken it, and I will do it.
37 Thus says the Lord GOD: For this, moreover, will I be inquired of by the house of Yisra'el, to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock.
38 As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Yerushalayim in her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Ezekiel 36:16-38 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 36

This chapter is a prophecy concerning the desolations of the land of Israel, and the causes of them; of the return of the people to it, and the fruitfulness of it; and of spiritual blessings bestowed upon them in the latter day. And first, for the comfort of the people of Israel, it is observed that their enemies that insulted them will suffer the vengeance of God's wrath, particularly the Edomites, Eze 36:1-7, that the land of Israel should again become fruitful, its cities rebuilt, men and beasts be multiplied upon it, and be no more liable to destruction, nor bear any more the reproach of the Heathen, Eze 36:8-15, the causes of its desolation and destruction, the sins of its inhabitants, especially bloodshed, idolatry, and profanation of the name of God, Eze 36:16-20, nevertheless the Lord promises to have mercy on them, and return them to their own land, not for their sakes, but for his own name's sake, Eze 36:21-24, then follow promises of spiritual blessings to them: as purification from all sin by the blood of Christ; regeneration by his Spirit and grace; and evangelical obedience as the fruit of that, Eze 36:25-27, and others of a mixed kind, respecting partly temporal and partly spiritual blessings, Eze 36:28-36, for all which it is expected of the Lord that he should be prayed unto for them; particularly their inhabitation in their own land, and the multiplication of them in it, with which the chapter concludes, Eze 36:37,38.

The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.