Yes, 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. For this is what the Lord GOD says: Because people say to you, 'You devour men and deprive your nation of its children,' therefore you will no longer devour men or deprive your nation of its children, declares the Lord GOD. I 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." Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "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. So 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. I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered throughout the lands. I judged them according to their ways and deeds.
Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves. Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants. But you are to keep My statutes and ordinances, and you must not commit any of these abominations—neither your native-born nor the foreigner who lives among you. For the men who were in the land before you committed all these abominations, and the land has become defiled. So if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it spewed out the nations before you. Therefore anyone who commits any of these abominations must be cut off from among his people. You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God."
Significance
Ezekiel 36:16-19 describes Israel's defilement of the land through bloodshed and idolatry using imagery that mirrors Leviticus 18:24-30. Leviticus warns that the land will "vomit out" (קִיא, qi) those who defile it with abominations (תּוֹעֵבוֹת, to'evot), just as it vomited out the Canaanites before them. Ezekiel confirms this happened: Israel's conduct was like menstrual impurity (נִדָּה, niddah) before God, and He scattered them among the nations. The extended passage (36:12-19) then promises restoration—God will cleanse both people and land, ensuring the cycle of defilement-expulsion-restoration reaches its final resolution through divine initiative rather than human effort. That resolution is explicitly grounded in God's zeal for His own name rather than in Israel's renewed obedience.
