Ezekiel 36-39
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 36
Restoration of the Land.[a] 1 Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord God, The enemy has gloated over you, saying: “Aha! These ancient heights have become our possession.”
3 In reply, prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord God: Since you have been ravaged and hounded from all sides, and thus have become the possession of the rest of the nations and the object of people’s gossip and slander, 4 therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God and what the Lord God says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and the deserted towns which have been plundered and have become a source of ridicule to the surrounding nations.
5 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: With seething jealousy I am speaking against the rest of the nations, and against the whole of Edom, who, with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, took my country as their possession so that they might plunder its pastures.
6 Therefore, prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys: Thus says the Lord God: I am speaking with jealous fury because you have been forced to endure the insults of the nations. 7 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: I raise my hand and swear that the nations all around you will have to endure insults.
8 As for you, mountains of Israel, you shall grow branches and bear fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon return home. 9 Behold, I am coming to you. It is to you that I shall turn. You will be tilled and sown, 10 and I will multiply your population, that of the whole house of Israel. The towns will again be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt.
11 Furthermore, I will settle large numbers of human beings and animals upon you. They will multiply and be fruitful, and I will make you as populous as in your former times. Moreover, I will make you more prosperous than ever before. Thus you will know that I am the Lord. 12 I will cause my people Israel to tread your soil once again. They will possess you, and you will be their heritage. Never again will they be left childless.
13 Thus says the Lord God: Because it has been said of you, “You are a land that devours people, and you bereave your nation of children,” 14 therefore, you will no longer devour people or make your nation childless, says the Lord God. 15 I will never again let you hear the taunts of the nations; no longer will you be forced to endure the insults of the peoples; no longer will your people be deprived of their children, says the Lord God.
16 Restoration of the People.[b]This word of the Lord was addressed to me: 17 Son of man, when the people of the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it with their conduct and their deeds. In my eyes, their conduct was like the uncleanness of a woman during her menstrual period.
18 Therefore, I poured out my wrath upon them because of the blood that they had shed upon the land, and because of their idols with which they had defiled it. 19 I scattered them throughout the nations, and they were dispersed in many lands. I passed sentence on them in accordance with their conduct and their deeds.
20 But whenever they came to the nations, they profaned my holy name, so that the people there would say about them, “These are the people of the Lord, yet they have been banished from his land.” 21 However, I have relented because of my concern about my holy name which the house of Israel has profaned among the nations where they have gone.
22 Therefore, say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am acting, but for the sake of my holy name which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I intend to prove the holiness of my great name which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. Thus, the nations will know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when through you I will display my holiness in their sight.
24 I will take you from among the nations and gather you from all the foreign lands, and I will bring you back to your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from everything that defiles you. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.
26 I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you. I will remove from your body a heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh in its place. 27 I will put my Spirit in you and make you follow my statutes and my ordinances.
28 Then you will live in the land that I gave to your ancestors. You will be my people, but I shall be your God. 29 I will save you from everything that defiles you. I will command the grain to be abundant and not allow any famine to afflict you. 30 I will make abundant the fruit of the trees and the crops in your fields, so that you will never have to suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.
31 Then you will remember your evil conduct and your wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and your abominable deeds. 32 I assure you that it is not for your sake that I am doing all this, says the Lord God. Let that be clearly understood. Be ashamed and feel intense disgrace for your conduct, O house of Israel.
33 Thus says the Lord God: On the day when I cleanse you from all your sins, I will repopulate your towns, and your ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The wasteland will be cultivated instead of being a desolate sight to all who walk past it.
35 People will say, “The land that was desolate is now like the Garden of Eden, and the towns that were once in ruins, desolate wastelands, are now inhabited once again and fortified.” 36 Then the neighboring nations that are still left around you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt what was destroyed and replanted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it.
37 Thus says the Lord God: I also will allow the house of Israel to persuade me to do this for them: I shall increase their numbers like a flock. 38 Like the flocks of sacrificial sheep in Jerusalem on its appointed feasts, so shall the formerly ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
Chapter 37
Vision of the Dry Bones.[c] 1 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he carried me away by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley that was full of bones. 2 He made me walk among them in every direction so that I would be aware how great was the number of these bones on the floor of the valley, and they were exceedingly dry.
3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I replied, “Lord God, only you can know that.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I am going to cause breath to enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will put sinews on you and cause flesh to grow over you and cover you with skin. I will put breath within you, and you will live, and you will know that I am the Lord.”
7 Therefore, I prophesied as I had been commanded to do, and as I was prophesying, I heard a noise, a sound of rattling, as the bones came together, bone uniting with bone. 8 As I watched, sinews and flesh grew upon the bones, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the Spirit. Prophesy, son of man, and say to the Spirit: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O Spirit, and breathe into these slain so that they may live.” 10 I prophesied as he had commanded me, and the Spirit entered into them. They came to life and stood on their feet, an immense army.
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They continue to say, ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope has vanished, and we are cut off completely.’ 12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: My people, I am going to open your graves and raise you up from them and bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you up from them, O my people. 14 When I put my Spirit within you, you will live, and I will resettle you on your own soil. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and I have done this, says the Lord.’ ”
15 Union of the Two Sticks.[d] This word of the Lord came to me: 16 Son of man, take a stick and write on it: “Judah and those Israelites associated with him.” Then take another stick and write on it: “Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.” 17 Then join the two sticks together so that they form one stick in your hand.
18 When your countrymen say to you, “Will you not tell us what you mean by this?” 19 say to them: Thus says the Lord God: I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in Ephraim’s hand, and of the tribes of Israel loyal to him, and I will join it to the stick of Judah. I will make them a single stick instead of two, and they shall be one in my hand.
20 When the sticks upon which you have written are held up in your hand for everyone to see, 21 say to them: Thus says the Lord God: I will take the Israelites from the nations among which they have been exiled. I will gather them from every side and bring them back to their land.
22 I will unify them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all. Never again will they be two separate nations, nor will they be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and their loathsome images or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all of their sins of apostasy that they have committed, and I will cleanse them. Thus, they will be my people, and I will be their God.
24 My servant David will be their king, and they all will have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be scrupulous in obeying my statutes. 25 They will live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, the land in which your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and my servant David will be their prince forever.
26 I will make a covenant of peace with them, and I will bless and multiply them and establish my sanctuary among them forever. 27 I will make my dwelling with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel when I establish my sanctuary among them forevermore.
Chapter 38
First Prophecy against Gog.[e] 1 This word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, turn your face toward Gog, in the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him.
3 Say: Thus says the Lord God: I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around and affix hooks in your jaws, and I will lead you forth with your entire army—your horses and your horsemen, all of them fully equipped, and a huge horde with bucklers and shields, all of them brandishing their swords.
5 Accompanying them will be the forces of Persia, Ethiopia, and Put, all with shields and helmets; 6 Gomer[f] and all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the far north with all its troops—a huge assemblage gathered in support of you. 7 Get ready and be prepared, you and all your troops and all your allies that have come together to support you. Keep yourselves at my disposal.
8 After a long period of time, you will be given orders, and sometime thereafter you will invade a land that has emerged from ruin. Its people have been assembled from many nations on the mountains of Israel which had long been desolate, and all of them are living in safety. 9 You will advance, coming forth like a storm. You will cover the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and the many nations who have come to support you.
10 Thus says the Lord God: On that day thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme. 11 You will say, “I will attack this country that has no means of defense and march against this peaceful nation which dwells with a sense of security, even though it has no walls or bars or gates. 12 I will plunder and loot and strip bare the settlements which once lay in ruins but are now inhabited by a people gathered from the nations who dwell at the very center of the world, a people engaged in trade and breeding cattle.”
13 Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages, will say to you, “Is it for plunder that you have come? Have you assembled your horde to carry off silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, and to seize a great amount of booty?”
14 Second Prophecy against Gog. Therefore, prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog: Thus says the Lord God: On that day when my people Israel are living securely, will you not rouse yourself 15 and come forth from your home in the far recesses of the north, you and many nations with you, a mighty army of soldiers beyond counting, all of them riding on horses? 16 You will come forth against my people Israel like a cloud covering the earth. In the final days, I will bring you against my land so that the nations will know me when through you, O Gog, I display my holiness before their eyes.
17 Thus says the Lord God: It was you of whom I spoke in former days through my servants, the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for many years that I would bring you against them. 18 On that day, when Gog attacks the land of Israel, says the Lord God, my fury will be aroused.
19 In my jealousy and in my blazing wrath, I swear that there will be a tremendous earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field, and all the reptiles that crawl on the ground, and every human being on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. Mountains will be thrown down, cliffs will crumble, and every wall will tumble to the ground.
21 I will summon the sword against Gog on all my mountains, says the Lord God, and the swords of all will be turned against their comrades. 22 With pestilence and bloodshed, I will bring judgment upon him, and I will pour down torrential rain, hailstones, fire and brimstone upon him and his troops and the many nations that are supporting him. 23 I will, thereby, display my greatness and my holiness and make myself known to many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
Chapter 39
Third Prophecy against Gog. 1 Son of man, prophesy against Gog and say: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am coming against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 2 I will turn you around and drive you forward. I will lead you from the most remote recesses of the north and bring you to the mountains of Israel.
3 Then I will strike the bow from your left hand and cause your arrows to drop from your right hand. 4 You will fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops as well as the nations that are with you. I will give you as food to birds of prey of every kind and to the wild beasts.
5 You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. 6 I will send fire on Magog and upon those who live undisturbed in the coastlands. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
7 I will make my holy name known among my people Israel, and I will not allow my holy name to be profaned. Thus the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. 8 All this will happen. All this will take place, says the Lord God. This is the day about which I have spoken.
9 Then those who dwell in the towns of Israel will go forth and set fire to the weapons to provide themselves with fuel—bucklers and shields, bows and arrows, clubs and spears—and they will make fires of them for seven years. 10 They will have no need to bring in wood from the fields or cut down any trees in the forests, inasmuch as they will use their weapons to make fires. They will despoil those who despoiled them and plunder those who plundered them, says the Lord God.
11 On that day I will give to Gog a well-known place in Israel for his grave, the Valley of Abarim east of the sea, a valley that is inaccessible to travelers. There Gog and all his horde will be buried. It will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog. 12 The house of Israel will spend seven months burying them in order to purify the land.
13 All the people of the land will bury them, thus gaining renown for doing so on the day that I reveal my glory, says the Lord God. 14 Some men will be designated for the assignment to pass through the land and bury any travelers who remain lying on the ground, so as to purify it. They will begin their search at the end of seven months.
15 As these searchers go through the country, if anyone sees a human bone, he must put up a marker beside it until the gravediggers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. 16 (A city named Hamonah is there also.) Thus the land will be purified.
17 As for you, son of man, the Lord God says this: Say to the wild birds of every kind and to all the wild animals: Assemble and come together. Gather from all sides for the sacrificial feast I am preparing for you, a magnificent sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel. 18 You will consume the flesh of the mighty, and you will drink the blood of the princes of the earth—of rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 At the sacrificial feast I am preparing for you, you will eat fat until you are filled and drink blood until you are drunk. 20 At my table you will be filled with horses and riders, with warriors and soldiers of every kind, says the Lord God.
21 Israel’s Reunion.[g] I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment that I inflict and the hand that I lay upon them. 22 From that day forward, the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord, their God.
23 Furthermore, the nations will know that the people of the house of Israel were exiled because of their iniquity, inasmuch as they dealt treacherously with me. Therefore, I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, so that they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my face from them.
25 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. 26 They will forget their disgrace and all the acts of infidelity they committed against me when they will live in security in their land, with no one to make them afraid.
27 When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from the lands of their enemies, I will display through them my holiness in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am the Lord, their God, because, having sent them into exile among the nations, I then reunited them into their own land and left none of them behind. 29 Never again will I hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord God.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 36:1 These two chapters, which at first sight are like what we have already read, convey the very heart of the Book of Ezekiel, for they give his vision of reality and sum up his theology, that is, his idea of God, of the Lord’s relationship with human beings and with his people, of the vocation of Israel, and of the destiny of the nations.
- Ezekiel 36:16 We reach here the high point of the revelation given through Ezekiel. God’s work consists in removing humanity from sin and making it one with himself as the center. This is truly grace, such that this work of God is essentially unmerited. It completely renews the links between God and his people or, better, between God and humanity (see Ezek 16:60; 37:26; Jer 31:31-34; Isa 54:10). The prophet sees the renewal taking the form of a grandiose liturgy in which cleansing water pours from the temple, which is God’s house and the center of worship (see Ezek 47:1-13). Humanity will then emerge from this liturgy with a new heart, a feeling heart; it will have a new spirit and share in the very Spirit of God. There could not be a more attractive prefiguration of Christian baptism.
- Ezekiel 37:1 In this macabre picture of lifeless bodies being suddenly brought to life by the Spirit of the Lord, Ezekiel’s intention is not to proclaim a resurrection of the dead but to inspire hope in the dejected exiles.
- Ezekiel 37:15 To keep the attention of his hearers, the prophet follows his usual tack and makes a very simple symbolic gesture. This becomes the starting point for a proclamation that applies to the entire world. All the old divisions will be overcome and all the schisms suppressed. This is the renewed covenant with God! Jesus will bring out the full meaning of this prophesied unity when he speaks of a single flock and a single shepherd (Jn 10:1-18; 11:52; Eph 2:11-22); he is Ezekiel’s new David.
- Ezekiel 38:1 It would be useless to try to identify persons and countries in this fanciful description. The poet uses apocalyptic ideas and mythology in order to teach us how to read the main guiding lines of the history of salvation as seen through the tragic experience of the exiles. Israel has been uprooted and mistreated by the pagans whom God has used in punishing his people; the forces of the world seem to have formed a coalition which serves God as a weapon against the rebellious nation. But this time of suffering leads to peace and prosperity, and then all of Israel’s enemies will be under its feet. These pictures with their vivid colors are made up of numerous fragments; they make use of elements—plague, earthquakes, floods, fire and brimstone—that gradually become characteristic of the way in which the Jewish tradition represents the critical moment, the final conflict between good and evil, God and sin. The name of Gog, with its reputation for savagery, stands for all the nations that have oppressed Israel and that always come from the north. The battle will take place in a distant future which cannot be specified and in which the unlikely is imagined as happening.
- Ezekiel 38:6 Gomer represents the Cimmerians, north of the Black Sea. Beth-togarmah is Armenia.
- Ezekiel 39:21 This is, in a way, the conclusion of all the preceding chapters. After punishing them, God will lead his people back to their country, since he is the God of Israel; his name will be made known to all through the covenant. These few verses summarize the teaching of Ezekiel: he is the prophet who in the midst of the passing events of history makes known, above all else, the glory of God.
