1. And thou, son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD.
2. Thus saith the Lord GOD: Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha! and, The ancient high places are ours in possession:
3. therefore prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD: Because, even because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the nations, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and the evil report of the people:
4. therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith 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 round about:
5. therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, which have appointed my land unto 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 say unto the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:
7. therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: I have lifted up mine hand, saying, Surely the heathen that are round about you, they shall bear their shame.
8. But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come.
9. For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown:
10. and I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded:
11. and I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase, and be fruitful: and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former estate, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
12. Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of children.
13. Thus saith the Lord GOD: Because they say unto you, Thou land art a devourer of men, and hast been a bereaver of thy nation;
14. therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nation any more, saith the Lord GOD;
15. neither will I let thee hear any more the shame of the heathen, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nation to stumble any more, saith the Lord GOD.
16. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
17. Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt 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 separation.
18. Wherefore I poured out my fury upon them for the blood which they had poured out upon the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols: