Israel shall be gathered together
1“Son of man, prophesy regarding the mountains of Israel; say to them: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of Yahweh: 2Your enemies have said: ‘Aha! these eternal heights have become our possession.’ 3People have envied you and ravaged you on all sides; other nations have taken possession of you, so that you became the subject of talk and gossip. Because of that, 4mountains of Israel, hear this word of Yahweh. Yahweh says to the mountains, the hills, the ravines and the valleys, to the deserted ruins and the empty towns which have become the plunder and target of mockery for other nations around: 5Truly in the fire of my jealousy I will speak against the other nations, namely all of Edom, who with glee and malice in their hearts, have taken possession of my land and plundered its pastures.
6Now you shall prophesy concerning Israel. You shall say to the mountains, the hills, the ravines and the valleys: This is the word of Yahweh who speaks in the fury of his jealousy! Because you have suffered the scorn of the nations, 7Yahweh says: I swear with uplifted hand, the nations surrounding you will suffer scorn. 8But you, mountains of Israel, you shall bring forth branches and produce fruit for my people Israel, for soon they will return.
9Indeed, I have turned in your direction and I have bent towards you; you will be cultivated and sown with seed. 10I will in crease your population in all Israel; the towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. 11Both people and animals will increase; they will be fruitful and multiply. I will build up their numbers as in the past and they will know that I am Yahweh. 12Men and women of Israel will walk on you again. They will take possession of you; you will be their heritage again, and never again will you let their children perish.”
13Yahweh speaks, “People say that you devour men and that you rob your people of children. 14But never again shall you devour men or rob your people of children – word of Yahweh. 15You shall no longer hear the mockery of the nations or suffer the insults of other lands – word of Yahweh.”
16The word of Yahweh came to me in these terms, 17“Son of man, when Israel occupied her own land she defiled it by her way of life and her actions. To me her conduct was like the uncleanness of a woman in her period.
18I poured out my fury on them because of the blood they shed in the land and because they defiled it with their filthy idols. 19Then I scattered them among the nations and dispersed them in other lands. I judged them according to their conduct and their actions.
20But when they were brought to other nations, my holy Name was profaned because others said of them: ‘The people of Yahweh had to be exiled from his land!’ 21Then I was concerned for my holy Name, profaned by Israel among the nations where she had been dispersed. Now you shall say to the people of Israel:
A new heart
22 ① It is not for your sake that I am about to act, but because of my holy Name that you have profaned in the places where you have gone. 23I will make known the holiness of my great Name, profaned among the nations because of you, and they will know that I am Yahweh when I show them my holiness among you.
24For I will gather you from all the nations and bring you back to your own land. 25Then I shall pour pure water over you and you shall be made clean – cleansed from the defilement of all your idols. 26I shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I shall remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27I shall put my spirit within you and move you to follow my decrees and keep my laws. 28You will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you shall be my people and I will be your God.
29I will free you from all your uncleanness. I shall summon the wheat and make it plentiful and so keep famine away from you. 30I shall see that the fruits of the earth and the produce of the fields are plentiful and that you no longer suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.
31Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked actions and loathe yourselves for the sins you committed and for your detestable practices. 32I want you to know that it is not for your sake I am doing this, word of Yahweh. Be ashamed and humbled because of your conduct, Israel! 33This is what Yahweh says: The day I cleanse you from all your sins, I shall repopulate the cities and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34The devastated land will be cultivated wherever passersby saw it desolate. 35Everyone will say, ‘This devastated land is now a garden of Eden and its cities once in ruins and leveled to the ground have been rebuilt and populated.’ 36And the nations that remain around you will know that I, Yahweh, have rebuilt the ruined city and replanted what was desolate. I, Yahweh, have spoken and I will do it.
37Thus says Yahweh: Once again I shall listen to the plea of Israel and favor them. I shall make their people as numerous as sheep, 38as numerous as the flock they bring to Jerusalem’s Temple at the time of her holy days. In the same way the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people and they will know that I am Yahweh.”
- Ezk 36,22 I shall give you a new heart. Many think it impossible to change the human heart. Because some have no hope of changing human beings, they accept people as they are, preferring to overlook mediocrity and sinfulness. Others become bitter about everything and everyone. This new heart is precisely what God offers in this text, quite similar to Jeremiah 31:31 and Ezekiel 11:19. The experience of the Jewish people showed that human beings are weak and unable to follow the commandments. Yet if an individual knows God personally, to the point of sharing intimately in God's life, is there no possibility of change and renewal? This is the meaning of the word conversion. To be converted means to come back to God after having been away from him. First, there is a change that takes place in the heart, that is to say, in the innermost part of the human being. Then, there is a change of mentality and attitude. In fact, it is God who converts people, by loving them, attracting them and giving them his Spirit, which transforms them into new beings. I will take away your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. This will be the New Covenant. Here may be seen the difference between Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Ezekiel has been given a pastoral task from God: he had to form over long years those who were to rebuild Israel. Ezekiel is preparing the near future. I will bring you back to your land: how often Ezekiel will repeat this. He is in the line of Moses; after him Ezekiel is one who had to lead the people of Israel. His duties as a pastor prevented him from seeing that a new heart would mean a radical change in the history of Israel: even if the Jews reentered their country, the time of their kingdom had passed and their national hopes would no longer matter. Jeremiah, on the contrary, who did not bear the same responsibility, lived the tragedy to the full, and in such moments could see that the history of Israel - God's people on God's earth - was nearing its end: the Gospel had to come.
