22Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord G
OD: Not for your sake do I act, house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name, which you desecrated among the nations to which you came.
j
23But I will show the holiness of my great name, desecrated among the nations, in whose midst you desecrated it. Then the nations shall know that I am the L
ORD—oracle of the Lord G
OD—when through you I show my holiness before their very eyes.
k
24I will take you away from among the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you back to your own soil.
25* l I will sprinkle clean water over you to make you clean; from all your impurities and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
26m I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
n
27I will put my spirit within you so that you walk in my statutes, observe my ordinances, and keep them.
o
28You will live in the land I gave to your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.
p
29I will deliver you from all your impurities. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful; I will not send famine against you.
30I will increase the fruit on your trees and the crops in your fields so that you no longer endure reproach from the nations because of famine.
q
31Then you will remember your evil behavior and your deeds that were not good; you will loathe yourselves for your sins and your abominations.
32Not for your sake do I act—oracle of the Lord G
OD. Let this be known to you! Be ashamed and humbled because of your behavior, house of Israel.
33Thus says the Lord GOD: When I cleanse you of all your guilt, I will resettle the cities and the ruins will be rebuilt.r
34The desolate land will be tilled—once a wasteland in the eyes of every passerby.
35They will say, “This once-desolate land has become like the garden of Eden. The cities once ruined, laid waste and destroyed, are now resettled and fortified.”s
36Then the surrounding nations that remain shall know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt what was destroyed and replanted what was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken: I will do it.
37Thus says the Lord GOD: This also I will be persuaded to do for the house of Israel: to multiply them like sheep.
38Like sheep for sacrifice, like the sheep of Jerusalem on its feast days, the ruined cities shall be filled with flocks of people; then they shall know that I am the LORD.t