World English Bible · Babylon and the exile
Ezekiel 36
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You, , to the mountains of Israel, and say, "You mountains of Israel, hear word. says: 'Because has said against you, "Aha!" and, "The ancient are ours in possession!"' therefore , and say, ' says: "Because, even because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that you might be a possession to the residue of the nations, and you are taken up in of talkers, and the evil report of the people;" therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of : says to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which have become a prey and derision to the residue of the nations that are all around; therefore says: "Surely in the of my I have spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all , that have appointed my land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all their , with despite of , to cast it out for a prey."' Therefore concerning the land of Israel, and tell the mountains, the hills, the watercourses and the valleys, ' says: "Behold, I have spoken in my and in my , because you have borne the of the nations." Therefore says: "I have , 'Surely the nations that are around you will bear their .' "'"But you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot out your and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come. For, behold, I am for you, and I will come to you, and you will be tilled and sown. I will multiply men on you, all the , even all of it. The cities will be inhabited and the waste places will be built. I will multiply man and animal on you. They will increase and be fruitful. I will cause you to be inhabited as you were before, and you will do better than at your beginnings. Then you will know that I am . Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even my people Israel. They will possess you, and you will be their , and you will never again bereave them of their children." "' says: "Because they say to you, 'You are a devourer of men, and have been a bereaver of your nation;' therefore you shall devour men no more, and not bereave your nation any more," . "I won't let you hear the of the nations any more. You won't bear the of the peoples any more, and you won't cause your nation to stumble any more," .'" 16Moreover word came to me, saying, ", when the lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and by their deeds. Their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. Therefore I poured out my on them for which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols. I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. I judged them according to their way and according to their deeds. When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my name, in that men said of them, 'These are people, and have left his land.' But I had respect for my name, which the had profaned among the nations where they went. "Therefore tell the , ' says: "I don't do this for your sake, , but for my name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. I will my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am ," , "when I am proven in you before their eyes. "'"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. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will also give you a new , and I will put a new within you. I will take away the stony out of your , and I will give you a of . I will put within you, and cause you to walk in . You will keep my ordinances and do them. You will in the land that I gave to your fathers. You will be my people, and I will be your . I will you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and will multiply it, and lay no on you. I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the of among the nations. "'"Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your and for your . I don't do this for your sake," . "Let it be known to you. Be and confounded for your ways, ." "' says: "In the day that I cleanse you from all your , I will cause the cities to be inhabited and the waste places will be built. The land that was desolate will be tilled instead of being a desolation in the sight of all who passed by. They will say, 'This land that was desolate has become like . The waste, desolate, and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.' Then the nations that are left around you will know that I, , have built the ruined places and planted that which was desolate. I, , have spoken it, and I will do it." "' says: "For this, moreover, I will be inquired of by the , to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock. As the flock for , as the in her , so the waste cities will be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am .'"
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Babylon and the exile, 612 BC to 539 BC ›
Babylon replaces Assyria, Jerusalem and its temple are destroyed in 586 BC, and the leadership of Judah lives in Mesopotamia without a king, a temple, or a country.
- Babylon
- Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilds the city on a scale meant to be seen from a distance: the Ishtar Gate in glazed blue brick, the processional way, the ziggurat, and gardens later counted among the wonders of the world. Babylonian tablets record rations issued to the captive king Jehoiachin of Judah by name, which is one of the tidier points of contact between the Bible and the archives.
- Egypt
- Briefly resurgent. Pharaoh Neco marches north, kills King Josiah at Megiddo, and installs and deposes kings in Jerusalem, until Babylon beats him decisively at Carchemish in 605 BC. Jeremiah spends his career saying that betting on Egypt is suicide, and is proved right.
- Judah
- Deported in stages, then destroyed. The temple is burned, the walls broken, and the leadership marched to Mesopotamia. What happens next is one of the strangest survivals in history: a people keeps its identity without land, king, or sanctuary, and comes out of it with its scriptures more central than before.
- Further afield
- An extraordinary century for ideas everywhere at once. Thales and the first Greek philosophers, Solon's reforms at Athens, the Buddha in India, Confucius and Lao Tzu in China, and Zoroaster in Persia all fall within a few generations of the exile.
All of Ezekiel