| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1“Son of man, prophesy to Israel’s mountains. Give them this message: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD! | 1“And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD. |
| 2This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Your enemies have taunted you, saying, ‘Aha! Now the ancient heights belong to us!’ | 2This is what the Lord GOD says: Because the enemy has said of you, ‘Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession,’ |
| 3Therefore, son of man, give the mountains of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: Your enemies have attacked you from all directions, making you the property of many nations and the object of much mocking and slander. | 3therefore prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Because they have made you desolate and have trampled you on every side, so that you became a possession of the rest of the nations and were taken up in slander by the lips of their talkers, |
| 4Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign LORD. He speaks to the hills and mountains, ravines and valleys, and to ruined wastes and long-deserted cities that have been destroyed and mocked by the surrounding nations. | 4therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and abandoned cities, which have become a spoil and a mockery to the rest of the nations around you. |
| 5This is what the Sovereign LORD says: My jealous anger burns against these nations, especially Edom, because they have shown utter contempt for me by gleefully taking my land for themselves as plunder. | 5Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Surely in My burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who took My land as their own possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, so that its pastureland became plunder. |
| 6“Therefore, prophesy to the hills and mountains, the ravines and valleys of Israel. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am furious that you have suffered shame before the surrounding nations. | 6Therefore, prophesy concerning the land of Israel and tell the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I have spoken in My burning zeal because you have endured the reproach of the nations. |
| 7Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I have taken a solemn oath that those nations will soon have their own shame to endure. | 7Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I have sworn with an uplifted hand that surely the nations around you will endure reproach of their own. |
| 8“But the mountains of Israel will produce heavy crops of fruit for my people—for they will be coming home again soon! | 8But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and bear fruit for My people Israel, for they will soon come home. |
| 9See, I care about you, and I will pay attention to you. Your ground will be plowed and your crops planted. | 9For behold, I am on your side; I will turn toward you, and you will be tilled and sown. |
| 10I will greatly increase the population of Israel, and the ruined cities will be rebuilt and filled with people. | 10I will multiply the people upon you—the house of Israel in its entirety. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. |
| 11I will increase not only the people, but also your animals. O mountains of Israel, I will bring people to live on you once again. I will make you even more prosperous than you were before. Then you will know that I am the LORD. | 11I will fill you with people and animals, and they will multiply and be fruitful. I will make you as inhabited as you once were, and I will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD. |
| 12I will cause my people to walk on you once again, and you will be their territory. You will never again rob them of their children. | 12Yes, I will cause My people Israel to walk upon you; they will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will no longer deprive them of their children. |
| 13“This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The other nations taunt you, saying, ‘Israel is a land that devours its own people and robs them of their children!’ | 13For this is what the Lord GOD says: Because people say to you, ‘You devour men and deprive your nation of its children,’ |
| 14But you will never again devour your people or rob them of their children, says the Sovereign LORD. | 14therefore you will no longer devour men or deprive your nation of its children, declares the Lord GOD. |
| 15I will not let you hear those other nations insult you, and you will no longer be mocked by them. You will not be a land that causes its nation to fall, says the Sovereign LORD.” | 15I will no longer allow the taunts of the nations to be heard against you, and you will no longer endure the reproach of the peoples or cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord GOD.” |
| 16Then this further message came to me from the LORD: | 16Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, |
| 17“Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by the evil way they lived. To me their conduct was as unclean as a woman’s menstrual cloth. | 17“Son of man, when the people of Israel lived in their land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds. Their behavior before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman’s impurity. |
| 18They polluted the land with murder and the worship of idols, so I poured out my fury on them. | 18So I poured out My wrath upon them because of the blood they had shed on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols. |
| 19I scattered them to many lands to punish them for the evil way they had lived. | 19I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered throughout the lands. I judged them according to their ways and deeds. |
| 20But when they were scattered among the nations, they brought shame on my holy name. For the nations said, ‘These are the people of the LORD, but he couldn’t keep them safe in his own land!’ | 20And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.’ |
| 21Then I was concerned for my holy name, on which my people brought shame among the nations. | 21But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they had gone. |
| 22“Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: I am bringing you back, but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, on which you brought shame while you were scattered among the nations. | 22Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: It is not for your sake that I will act, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations to which you went. |
| 23I will show how holy my great name is—the name on which you brought shame among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign LORD, then the nations will know that I am the LORD. | 23I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes. |
| 24For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land. | 24For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you back into your own land. |
| 25“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. | 25I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. |
| 26And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. | 26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. |
| 27And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. | 27And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances. |
| 28“And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God. | 28Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God. |
| 29I will cleanse you of your filthy behavior. I will give you good crops of grain, and I will send no more famines on the land. | 29I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful, and I will not bring famine upon you. |
| 30I will give you great harvests from your fruit trees and fields, and never again will the surrounding nations be able to scoff at your land for its famines. | 30I will also make the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field plentiful, so that you will no longer bear reproach among the nations on account of famine. |
| 31Then you will remember your past sins and despise yourselves for all the detestable things you did. | 31Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and abominations. |
| 32But remember, says the Sovereign LORD, I am not doing this because you deserve it. O my people of Israel, you should be utterly ashamed of all you have done! | 32It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD—let it be known to you. Be ashamed and disgraced for your ways, O house of Israel! |
| 33“This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When I cleanse you from your sins, I will repopulate your cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt. | 33This is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be resettled and the ruins to be rebuilt. |
| 34The fields that used to lie empty and desolate in plain view of everyone will again be farmed. | 34The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through. |
| 35And when I bring you back, people will say, ‘This former wasteland is now like the Garden of Eden! The abandoned and ruined cities now have strong walls and are filled with people!’ | 35Then they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and destroyed are now fortified and inhabited.’ |
| 36Then the surrounding nations that survive will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruins and replanted the wasteland. For I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do what I say. | 36Then the nations around you that remain will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt what was destroyed, and I have replanted what was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it. |
| 37“This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am ready to hear Israel’s prayers and to increase their numbers like a flock. | 37This is what the Lord GOD says: Once again I will hear the plea of the house of Israel and do for them this: I will multiply their people like a flock. |
| 38They will be as numerous as the sacred flocks that fill Jerusalem’s streets at the time of her festivals. The ruined cities will be crowded with people once more, and everyone will know that I am the LORD.” | 38Like the numerous flocks for sacrifices at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.” |
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