A Prophecy to the Mountains of Israel

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 Lord GOD says: Because the enemy has said of you, ‘Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession,’

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 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.

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.

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 Lord GOD says: I have sworn with an uplifted hand that surely the nations around you will endure reproach of their own.

⁸But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and bear fruit for My people Israel, for they will soon come home.

⁹For behold, I am on your side; I will turn toward you, and you will be tilled and sown.

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 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.

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.

¹³For this is what the Lord GOD says: Because people say to you, ‘You devour men and deprive your nation of its children,’

¹⁴therefore you will no longer devour men or deprive your nation of its children, declares the Lord GOD.

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.”

A New Heart and a New Spirit

¹⁶Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

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.

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 dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered throughout the lands. I judged them according to their ways and deeds.

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.’

²¹But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they had gone.

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

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.

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 within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.

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 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 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 evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and abominations.

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!

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 desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through.

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 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.

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.

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.”

The Vision of the Lampstand and Olive Trees

¹Then the angel who was speaking with me returned and woke me, as a man is awakened from his sleep.

²“What do you see?” he asked.“I see a solid gold lampstand,” I replied, “with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven spouts to the lamps.

³There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left.”

⁴“What are these, my lord?” I asked the angel who was speaking with me.

⁵“Do you not know what they are?” replied the angel.“No, my lord,” I answered.

⁶So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts.

⁷What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. Then he will bring forth the capstone accompanied by shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”

⁸Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

⁹“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent me to you.

¹⁰For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven eyesof the LORD, which scan the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb linein the hand of Zerubbabel.”

¹¹Then I asked the angel, “What are the two olive trees on the right and left of the lampstand?”

¹²And I questioned him further, “What are the two olive branches beside the two gold pipes from which the golden oilpours?”

¹³“Do you not know what these are?” he inquired.“No, my lord,” I replied.

¹⁴So he said, “These are the two anointed oneswho are standing beside the Lord of all the earth.”

A Prophecy against Mount Seir

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 declare that this is what the Lord GOD says:Behold, I am against you,O Mount Seir.I will stretch out My hand against youand make you a desolate waste.

⁴I will turn your cities into ruins,and you will become a desolation.Then you will know that I am the LORD.

⁵Because you harbored an ancient hatred and delivered the Israelites over to the sword in the time of their disaster at the final stage of their punishment,

⁶therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will give you over to bloodshed and it will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, it will pursue you.

⁷I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste and will cut off from it those who come and go.

⁸I will fill its mountains with the slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills, in your valleys, and in all your ravines.

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

¹⁰Because you have said, ‘These two nations and countries will be ours, and we will possess them,’ even though the LORD was there,

¹¹therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will treat you according to the anger and jealousy you showed in your hatred against them, and I will make Myself known among them when I judge you.

¹²Then you will know that I, the LORD, have heard every contemptuous word you uttered against the mountains of Israel when you said, ‘They are desolate; they are given to us to devour!’

¹³You boasted against Me with your mouth and multiplied your words against Me. I heard it Myself!

¹⁴This is what the Lord GOD says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.

¹⁵As you rejoiced when the inheritance of the house of Israel became desolate, so will I do to you. You will become a desolation, O Mount Seir, and so will all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

Do Not Envy

Saying 20

¹Do not envy wicked menor desire their company;

²for their hearts devise violence,and their lips declare trouble.

Saying 21

³By wisdom a house is builtand by understanding it is established;

⁴through knowledge its rooms are filledwith every precious and beautiful treasure.

Saying 22

⁵A wise man is strong,and a man of knowledge enhances his strength.

⁶Only with sound guidance should you wage war,and victory lies in a multitude of counselors.

Saying 23

⁷Wisdom is too high for a fool;he does not open his mouth in the meeting place.

Saying 24

⁸He who plots evilwill be called a schemer.

⁹A foolish scheme is sin,and a mocker is detestable to men.

Saying 25

¹⁰If you faint in the day of distress,how small is your strength!

¹¹Rescue those being led away to death,and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter.

¹²If you say, “Behold, we did not know about this,”does not He who weighs hearts consider it?Does not the One who guards your life know?Will He not repay a man according to his deeds?

Saying 26

¹³Eat honey, my son, for it is good,and the honeycomb is sweet to your taste.

¹⁴Know therefore that wisdom is sweet to your soul.If you find it, there is a future for you,and your hope will never be cut off.

Saying 27

¹⁵Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, near the dwelling of the righteous;do not destroy his resting place.

¹⁶For though a righteous man may fall seven times, he still gets up;but the wicked stumble in bad times.

Saying 28

¹⁷Do not gloat when your enemy falls,and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,

¹⁸or the LORD will see and disapprove,and turn His wrath away from him.

Saying 29

¹⁹Do not fret over evildoers,and do not be envious of the wicked.

²⁰For the evil man has no future;the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished.

Saying 30

²¹My son, fear the LORD and the king,and do not associate with the rebellious.

²²For they will bring sudden destruction.Who knows what ruin they can bring?

Further Sayings of the Wise

²³These also are sayings of the wise:To show partiality in judgmentis not good.

²⁴Whoever tells the guilty, “You are innocent”—peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him;

²⁵but it will go well with those who convict the guilty,and rich blessing will come upon them.

²⁶An honest answer givenis like a kiss on the lips.

²⁷Complete your outdoor work and prepare your field;after that, you may build your house.

²⁸Do not testify against your neighbor without cause,and do not deceive with your lips.

²⁹Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me;I will repay the man according to his work.”

³⁰I went past the field of a slackerand by the vineyard of a man lacking judgment.

³¹Thorns had grown up everywhere,thistles had covered the ground,and the stone wall was broken down.

³²I observed and took it to heart;I looked and received instruction:

³³A little sleep, a little slumber,a little folding of the hands to rest,

³⁴and poverty will come upon you like a robber,and need like a bandit.