Ezekiel 36:33–38, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Ezekiel 36:33–38
Ruined Cities Become Cultivated and Populous
In the day that I shall have cleansed you
In the day that the LORD has cleansed Israel from all their iniquities, he also causes them to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. The desolate land is tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.
They shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced and are inhabited. The heathen that are left round about shall know that the LORD built the ruined places and planted that that was desolate. He the LORD has spoken it, and he will do it.
Like the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts
Thus saith the Lord GOD: I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them. I will increase them with men like a flock. As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men, and they shall know that he is the LORD.
Garden and festival-flock imagery picture recognized rebuilding and a peopled land. They do not promise unlimited growth, excuse displacement, or turn demographic change into prophetic proof. Inquiry is part of the gift: Israel is to ask for what God has already said he will do.
How this should shape us
Pray for ruined places to be inhabitable again, and let passersby see planting rather than spin. Do not treat a population spike as fulfilled prophecy, and do not clear people out to make a garden look biblical.
Teach it back
Explain Ezekiel 36:33–38 in your own words. Name its place in Ezekiel, one source-controlled observation, one uncertainty, one enduring truth, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.
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Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Ezekiel 36:33–38, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ezek.xml, OSIS 36:33–38
Supports: Verse-level controls for difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, place names, textual issues, vision language, and material alternatives.
Official NET Ezekiel PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Ezekiel 36:33–38
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with visible alternatives and ancient-to-modern limits.
Enter the Bible Ezekiel course, Outline and Theological Themes: watchman, shepherd, heart, Spirit, and dry bones; applied to Ezekiel 36:33–38
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and interpretive questions, including ethical attention to gendered rhetoric and the final vision.
Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Ezekiel Parts 2-3 study guides: nations, watchman, shepherd, and restoration; applied to Ezekiel 36:33–38
Supports: Displaced identity, false hope, durable collective hope, restoration, land, temple, transformed community, and their limits.
Hiebel, 'Hope in Exile,' Religions 10.8 (2019), pp. 1-16, sections on Ezekiel 13, 20, 34-37, and 40-48; applied to Ezekiel 36:33–38
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Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Ezekiel 36:33–38, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Ezekiel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ezek.xml, OSIS 36:33–38
Open the fixed Hebrew Ezekiel file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Ezekiel
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2016; current official PDF
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Exact location: Official NET Ezekiel PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Ezekiel 36:33–38
Open the official NET Ezekiel PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Ezekiel course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, themes, and passage studies
Alan G. Padgett; revised by Tyler Mayfield
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised June 2023
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with visible alternatives and ancient-to-modern limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Ezekiel course, Outline and Theological Themes: watchman, shepherd, heart, Spirit, and dry bones; applied to Ezekiel 36:33–38
Open the Enter the Bible Ezekiel course ↗open university study guide series
Jeremiah and Ezekiel: Ezekiel Parts 1-3 Study Guides
Joel S. Baden and Jacqueline Vayntrub
Yale Bible Study, 2024
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and interpretive questions, including ethical attention to gendered rhetoric and the final vision.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Ezekiel Parts 2-3 study guides: nations, watchman, shepherd, and restoration; applied to Ezekiel 36:33–38
Open the Yale Jeremiah and Ezekiel course ↗peer reviewed open access literary and theological article
Hope in Exile: In Conversation with Ezekiel
Janina M. Hiebel
Religions 10.8, article 476, 2019
Supports: Displaced identity, false hope, durable collective hope, restoration, land, temple, transformed community, and their limits.
Exact location: Hiebel, 'Hope in Exile,' Religions 10.8 (2019), pp. 1-16, sections on Ezekiel 13, 20, 34-37, and 40-48; applied to Ezekiel 36:33–38
Open Hiebel on hope in Ezekiel ↗