Thus says the LORD:
I will prove the holiness of my great name,
profaned among the nations,
in whose midst you have profaned it.
Oh.
Thus the nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD,
when in their sight I prove my holiness through you.
For I will take you away from among the nations,
gather you from all the foreign lands,
and bring you back to your own land.
Thanks to Him.
I will sprinkle clean water upon you
to cleanse you from all your impurities,
and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
Heavens!
I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you,
taking from your bodies your stony hearts
and giving you natural hearts.
Re-making us.
I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes,
careful to observe my decrees.
You shall live in the land I gave your ancestors;
you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
!
Per Knox, offering perhaps new insights:
23 That great renown of mine I mean to vindicate, that is now dragged in the dust among the Gentiles, dragged in the dust because of you. The very Gentiles will recognize my power, the Lord God says, when I proclaim my majesty in their sight by delivering you.
[vv. 20-23. The suggestion is, not that the Israelites in exile brought disgrace on the true religion by their sinfulness, but that the heathen looked with contempt on a God who seemed unable to protect his votaries.]
24 I mean to set you free from the power of the Gentiles, bring you home again from every part of the earth.
25 And then I will pour cleansing streams over you, to purge you from every stain you bear, purge you from the taint of your idolatry.
26 I will give you a new heart, and breathe a new spirit into you; I will take away from your breasts those hearts that are hard as stone, and give you human hearts instead.
27 I will make my spirit penetrate you, so that you will follow in the path of my law, remember and carry out my decrees.
28 So shall you make your home in the land I promised to your fathers; you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Thus God spoke to his people through His messenger.
Blithe Spirit 