22. "But tell the people of Israel, 'The Lord and King speaks. He says, "People of Israel, I will not take action for your benefit. Instead, I will act for the honor of my holy name. You have treated it as if it were not holy. You did it everywhere you went among the nations.
23. But I will show everyone how holy my great name is. You have treated it as if it were not holy. So I will use you to show the nations how holy I am. Then they will know that I am the Lord," announces the Lord and King.
24. " ' "I will take you out of the nations. I will gather you together from all of the countries. I will bring you back into your own land.
25. " ' "I will sprinkle pure water on you. Then you will be 'clean.' I will make you completely pure and clean. I will take all of the statues of your gods away from you.
26. I will give you new hearts. I will give you a new spirit that is faithful to me. I will remove your stubborn hearts from you. I will give you hearts that obey me.
27. " ' "I will put my Spirit in you. I will move you to follow my rules. I want you to be careful to keep my laws.
28. You will live in the land I gave your people long ago. You will be my people. And I will be your God.
29. " ' "I will save you from all of your 'uncleanness.' I will give you plenty of grain. You will have more than enough. So you will never be hungry again.
30. I will multiply the fruit on your trees. I will increase the crops in your fields. Then the nations will no longer make fun of you because you are hungry.
31. " ' "You will remember your evil ways and the sinful things you have done. You will hate yourselves because you have sinned so much. I also hate your evil practices.
32. I want you to know that I am not doing those things for your benefit," announces the Lord and King. "People of Israel, you should be ashamed of yourselves! Your conduct has brought dishonor to you." ' "
33. The Lord and King says, "I will make you pure from all of your sins. On that day I will settle you in your towns again. Your broken-down houses will be rebuilt.
34. The dry and empty land will be farmed again. "Everyone who passes through it will see that it is no longer empty.
35. They will say, 'This land was completely destroyed. But now it's like the Garden of Eden. The cities were full of broken-down buildings. They were destroyed and empty. But now they have high walls around them. And people live in them.'
36. "Then the nations that remain around you will know that I have rebuilt what was once destroyed. I have planted again the fields that were once empty. I have spoken. And I will do it. I am the Lord."
37. The Lord and King says, "Once again I will answer the prayers of the people of Israel. Here is what I will do for them. I will multiply them as if they were sheep.