Ezekiel 36:24-38

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  36:29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and multiply it; I will not bring a famine on you. 36:30 I will multiply the fruit of the trees and the produce of the fields, so that you will never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. 36:31 Then you will remember your evil behavior ⁸  and your deeds which were not good; you will loathe yourselves on account of your sins and your abominable deeds. 36:32 Understand that ⁹  it is not for your sake I am about to act, declares the sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and embarrassed by your behavior, O house of Israel.

36:33 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: In the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will populate the cities and the ruins will be rebuilt. 36:34 The desolate land will be plowed, instead of being desolate in the sight of everyone who passes by. 36:35 They will say, “This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; the ruined, desolate, and destroyed cities are now fortified and inhabited.” 36:36 Then the nations which remain around you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruins and replanted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken – and I will do it!’

36:37 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: I will allow the house of Israel to ask me to do this for them: ¹⁰  I will multiply their people like sheep. ¹¹  36:38 Like the sheep for offerings, like the sheep of Jerusalem ¹²  during her appointed feasts, so will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

[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).

[36:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “ways.”

[36:32]  ⁹ tn Heb “Let it be known.”

[36:37]  ¹⁰ tn The Niphal verb may have a tolerative function here, “Again (for) this I will allow myself to be sought by the house of Israel to act for them.” Or it may be reflexive: “I will reveal myself to the house of Israel by doing this also.”

[36:37]  ¹¹ sn Heb “I will multiply them like sheep, human(s).”

[36:38]  ¹² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.