Ezekiel 36:38

Ezekiel 36:38, in plain English

The cities will be so full of people—like Jerusalem at festival time when thousands gather for worship—that you'll look around and finally know with certainty that the LORD is real and in control.

Why it's here

Jerusalem at feast time was crowded with worshipers, alive with celebration and God's presence. That's what the rebuilt cities will look like—full of life, full of people, full of activity. It's the picture of a thriving, God-centered community. And that abundance itself becomes proof to everyone that the LORD is God.

Who's speaking

God, concluding His restoration promise through Ezekiel

Where it sits in the story

The promise ends with knowledge—people will know that God is the LORD. Not because they're told to believe it, but because they'll live in the undeniable reality of His restoration. This knowledge shapes how they live and relates to Him.

The scholarly reading

The multiplied population will fill the cities of Jerusalem during festival seasons just as temple flocks for sacrifice once did, transforming the waste places into scenes of vibrant communal worship and celebration.

Language and setting

The reference to 'flocks for sacrifices at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts' (Hebrew *ṣōʾn qodāšîm k*'ṣōʾn yərûšālayim bǝmôʿădāyim*) invokes vivid liturgical memory—the overwhelming abundance of sacrificial animals during the great festivals like Passover, when Jerusalem swelled with pilgrims. The promise is that cities will be as crowded with joyful inhabitants as Jerusalem once was with festival worshippers.

Voice

YHWH through Ezekiel, concluding the restoration vision with a comparison to liturgical abundance

Significance

This final verse completes the restoration arc that began in verse 24. From regathering (24) through purification (25), transformation (26-27), covenant renewal (28), material blessing (29-30), awakened conscience (31-32), and rebuilding (33-36), now multiplication and festive joy crown the vision. The New Testament applies this eschatologically to the heavenly assembly—the innumerable multitude before the throne of God described in Revelation 7:9. The entire chapter thus moves from judgment through exile to vindication, transformation, and ultimately eschatological abundance.

36Then the nations around you that remain will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt what was destroyed, and I have replanted what was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it.

37This is what the Lord GOD says: Once again I will hear the plea of the house of Israel and do for them this: I will multiply their people like a flock.

38Like the numerous flocks for sacrifices at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

Read all of Ezekiel 36 — I will sprinkle clean water on you. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. Not for your sake — for the sake of my holy name.