Day 194 of 365

¹Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it,

³and tell it, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and an astonishment.

⁴I will lay your cities waste, and you shall be desolate; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

⁵"'"Because you have had a perpetual enmity, and have given over the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity of the end;

⁶therefore, as I live," says the Lord God, "I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you: since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you.

⁷Thus will I make Mount Seir an astonishment and a desolation; and I will cut off from it him who passes through and him who returns.

⁸I will fill its mountains with its slain: in your hills and in your valleys and in all your watercourses shall they fall who are slain with the sword.

⁹I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

¹⁰"'"Because you have said, 'These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it'; whereas the Lord was there:

¹¹therefore, as I live," says the Lord God, "I will do according to your anger, and according to your envy which you have shown out of your hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I shall judge you.

¹²You shall know that I, the Lord, have heard all your insults which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they have been given us to devour.

¹³You have magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard it."

¹⁴Thus says the Lord God: "When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.

¹⁵As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do to you: you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it; and they shall know that I am the Lord."'"

¹"You, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, 'You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord.

²Thus says the Lord God: "Because the enemy has said against you, 'Aha!' and, 'The ancient high places are ours in possession'"';

³therefore prophesy, and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "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 the lips of talkers, and the evil report of the people";

⁴therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: "Thus says the Lord God 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 are become a prey and derision to the residue of the nations that are all around;

⁵therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, that have appointed my land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with despite of soul, to cast it out for a prey.'"'

⁶"Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and tell the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because you have borne the shame of the nations:

⁷therefore thus says the Lord God: 'I have sworn, saying, "Surely the nations that are around you, they shall bear their shame."

⁸"'"'But you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come.

⁹For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn into you, and you shall be tilled and sown;

¹⁰and I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built;

¹¹and I will multiply on you man and animal; and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former estate, and will do better to you than at your beginnings: and you shall know that I am the Lord.

¹²Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no more henceforth bereave them of children.'"

¹³"'Thus says the Lord God: "Because they say to you, 'You are a devourer of men, and have been a bereaver of your nation';

¹⁴therefore you shall devour men no more, neither bereave your nation any more," says the Lord God;

¹⁵"neither will I let you hear any more the shame of the nations, neither shall you bear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither shall you cause your nation to stumble any more," says the Lord God.'"

¹⁶Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹⁷"Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings: their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.

¹⁸Therefore I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols;

¹⁹and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.

²⁰When they came to the nations, where they went, they profaned my holy name; in that men said of them, 'These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land.'

²¹But I had respect for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, where they went.

²²"Therefore tell the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God: "I do not do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, where you went.

²³I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord," says the Lord God, "when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

²⁴For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.

²⁵I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

²⁶I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

²⁷I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.

²⁸You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

²⁹I will save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you.

³⁰I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations.

³¹Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

³²Nor for your sake do I this," says the Lord God, "be it known to you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel."'

³³"Thus says the Lord God: 'In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built.

³⁴The land that was desolate shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all who passed by.

³⁵They shall say, "This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited."

³⁶Then the nations that are left around you shall know that I, the Lord, have built the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate: I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it.'"

³⁷"Thus says the Lord God: 'For this, moreover, will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock.

³⁸As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am the Lord.'"

¹The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.

²He caused me to pass by them all around: and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and behold, they were very dry.

³He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I answered, "Lord God, you know."

⁴Again he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, 'You dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.'

⁵Thus says the Lord God to these bones: 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.

⁶I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.'"

⁷So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

⁸I saw, and, behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.

⁹Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, 'Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.'"

¹⁰So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

¹¹Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.'

¹²Therefore prophesy, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.

¹³You shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people.

¹⁴I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,' says the Lord."

¹⁵The word of the Lord came again to me, saying,

¹⁶"You, son of man, take one stick, and write on it, 'For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions': then take another stick, and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions':

¹⁷and join them for you one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.

¹⁸When the children of your people shall speak to you, saying, 'Will you not show us what you mean by these?'

¹⁹tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with it, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand."'

²⁰The sticks whereon you write shall be in your hand before their eyes.

²¹"Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, where they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:

²²and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all;

²³neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

²⁴"'"My servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them.

²⁵They shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children's children, forever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever.

²⁶Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.

²⁷My tent also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

²⁸The nations shall know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in their midst forevermore."'"

¹The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

³and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:

⁴and I will turn you around, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth, with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords;

⁵Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;

⁶Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes; even many peoples with you.

⁷"'"Be prepared, yes, prepare yourself, you, and all your companies who are assembled to you, and be a guard to them.

⁸After many days you shall be visited: in the latter years you shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, on the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely, all of them.

⁹You shall ascend, you shall come like a storm, you shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you, and all your hordes, and many peoples with you."

¹⁰"'Thus says the Lord God: "It shall happen in that day, that things shall come into your mind, and you shall devise an evil device:

¹¹and you shall say, 'I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates;

¹²to take the spoil and to take the prey; to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered out of the nations, who have gotten livestock and goods, who dwell in the middle of the earth.'

¹³Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions of it, shall tell you, 'Have you come to take the spoil? Have you assembled your company to take the prey, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great spoil?'"'

¹⁴"Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and tell Gog, 'Thus says the Lord God: "In that day when my people Israel dwells securely, shall you not know it?

¹⁵You shall come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you, and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army;

¹⁶and you shall come up against my people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land: it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in you, Gog, before their eyes."

¹⁷"'Thus says the Lord God: "Are you he of whom I spoke in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them?"

¹⁸It shall happen in that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel,' says the Lord God, 'that my wrath shall come up into my nostrils.

¹⁹For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;

²⁰so that the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky, and the animals of the field, and all creeping things who creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the surface of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

²¹I will call for a sword against him to all my mountains,' says the Lord God: 'every man's sword shall be against his brother.

²²With pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him, and on his hordes, and on the many peoples who are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and sulfur.

²³I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am the Lord.'