Ezekiel 36:24-28

36:24 “‘I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries; then I will bring you to your land. 36:25 I will sprinkle you with pure water ¹  and you will be clean from all your impurities. I will purify you from all your idols. 36:26 I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone ²  from your body and give you a heart of flesh. ³  36:27 I will put my Spirit within you; ⁴  I will take the initiative and you will obey my statutes ⁵  and carefully observe my regulations. ⁶  36:28 Then you will live in the land I gave to your fathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. ⁷ 

[36:25]  ¹ sn The Lord here uses a metaphor from the realm of ritual purification. For the use of water in ritual cleansing, see Exod 30:19-20; Lev 14:51; Num 19:18; Heb 10:22.

[36:26]  ² sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is stubborn and unresponsive (see 1 Sam 25:37). In Rabbinic literature a “stone” was associated with an evil inclination (b. Sukkah 52a).

[36:26]  ³ sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is responsive and obedient to God.

[36:27]  ⁴ tn Or “in the midst of you.” The word “you” is plural.

[36:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “and I will do that which in my statutes you will walk.” The awkward syntax (verb “to do, act” + accusative sign + relative clause + prepositional phrase + second person verb) is unique, though Eccl 3:14 contains a similar construction. In the last line of that verse we read that “God acts so that (relative pronoun) they fear before him.” However, unlike Ezek 36:27, the statement has no accusative sign before the relative pronoun.

[36:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “and my laws you will guard and you will do them.” Jer 31:31-34 is parallel to this passage.

[36:28]  ⁷ sn This promise reflects the ancient covenantal ideal (see Exod 6:7).