'Land' in the Bible

the word of the Lord came directly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar Canal. And the Lord’s hand was on him there.

I will stretch out My hand against them, and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Diblah. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”

“Son of man, this is what the Lord God says to the land of Israel:An end! The end has comeon the four corners of the land.

Doom has come on you,inhabitants of the land.The time has come; the day is near.There will be panic on the mountainsand not celebration.

Forge the chain,for the land is filled with crimes of bloodshed,and the city is filled with violence.

The king will mourn;the prince will be clothed in grief;and the hands of the people of the land will tremble.I will deal with them according to their own conduct,and I will judge them by their own standards.Then they will know that I am Yahweh.

Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his idol? For they are saying, ‘The Lord does not see us. The Lord has abandoned the land.’”

And He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it not enough for the house of Judah to commit the detestable things they are practicing here, that they must also fill the land with violence and repeatedly provoke Me to anger, even putting the branch to their nose?

He answered me: “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity. For they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land; He does not see.’

“Son of man, your own relatives, those who have the right to redeem you, and the entire house of Israel, all of them, are those that the residents of Jerusalem have said this to, ‘Stay away from the Lord; this land has been given to us as a possession.’

“Therefore say: This is what the Lord God says: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

And while they look on, lift the bags to your shoulder and take them out in the dark; cover your face so that you cannot see the land. For I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.”

The prince who is among them will lift his bags to his shoulder in the dark and go out. They will dig through the wall to bring him out through it. He will cover his face so he cannot see the land with his eyes.

But I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he will not see it, and he will die there.

Then say to the people of the land: This is what the Lord God says about the residents of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water in dread, for their land will be stripped of everything in it because of the violence of all who live there.

The inhabited cities will be destroyed, and the land will become a desolation. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”

“Son of man, what is this proverb you people have about the land of Israel, which goes:The days keep passing by,and every vision fails?

“My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations. They will not be present in the fellowship of My people or be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, and they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.

“Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of bread, to send famine through it, and to wipe out both man and animal from it,

“If I allow dangerous animals to pass through the land and depopulate it so that it becomes desolate, with no one passing through it for fear of the animals,

even if these three men were in it, as I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“they could not deliver their sons or daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.

“Or if I bring a sword against that land and say: Let a sword pass through it, so that I wipe out both man and animal from it,

“Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath on it with bloodshed to wipe out both man and animal from it,

I will make the land desolate because they have acted unfaithfully.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

You are to say: This is what the Lord God says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

So you extended your prostitution to Chaldea, the land of merchants, but you were not even satisfied with this!

He plucked off its topmost shoot,brought it to the land of merchants,and set it in a city of traders.

He took one of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. Then he took away the leading men of the land,

“As I live”—this is the declaration of the Lord God—“he will die in Babylon, in the land of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke.

“What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel:The fathers eat sour grapes,and the children’s teeth are set on edge?

When the nations heard about him,he was caught in their pit.Then they led him away with hooksto the land of Egypt.

He devastated their strongholdsand destroyed their cities.The land and everything in it shudderedat the sound of his roaring.

Now it is planted in the wilderness,in a dry and thirsty land.

Say to them: This is what the Lord God says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore an oath to the descendants of Jacob’s house and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I swore to them, saying: I am Yahweh your God.

On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands.

“But they rebelled against Me and were unwilling to listen to Me. None of them threw away the detestable things that were before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I considered pouring out My wrath on them, exhausting My anger against them within the land of Egypt.

“So I brought them out of the land of Egypt and led them into the wilderness.

However, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them—the most beautiful of all lands, flowing with milk and honey—

When I brought them into the land that I swore to give them and they saw any high hill or leafy tree, they offered their sacrifices and presented their offensive offerings there. They also sent up their pleasing aromas and poured out their drink offerings there.

Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

And I will also purge you of those who rebel and transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the land where they live as foreign residents, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.

For on My holy mountain, Israel’s high mountain”—the declaration of the Lord God—“there the entire house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land. There I will accept them and will require your contributions and choicest gifts, all your holy offerings.

When I lead you into the land of Israel, the land I swore to give your fathers, you will know that I am Yahweh.

“Son of man, face the south and preach against it. Prophesy against the forest land in the Negev,

“Son of man, turn your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel,

“Now you, son of man, mark out two roads that the sword of Babylon’s king can take. Both of them should originate from the same land. And make a signpost at the fork in the road to each city.

Return it to its sheath!I will judge youin the place where you were created,in the land of your origin.

You will be fuel for the fire.Your blood will be spilled in the land.You will not be remembered,for I, Yahweh, have spoken.”

“Son of man, say to her: You are a land that has not been cleansed, that has not received rain in the day of indignation.

The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and unlawfully exploited the foreign resident.

I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it, but I found no one.

wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like officers, a depiction of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth.

Yet she multiplied her acts of promiscuity, remembering the days of her youth when she acted like a prostitute in the land of Egypt

So I will put an end to your indecency and sexual immorality, which began in the land of Egypt, and you will not look longingly at them or remember Egypt anymore.

So I will put an end to indecency in the land, and all the women will be admonished not to imitate your indecent behavior.

Say to the Ammonites: Hear the word of the Lord God: This is what the Lord God says: Because you said, ‘Good!’ about My sanctuary when it was desecrated, about the land of Israel when it was laid waste, and about the house of Judah when they went into exile,

For this is what the Lord God says: “Because you clapped your hands, stamped your feet, and rejoiced over the land of Israel with wholehearted contempt,

therefore I am about to expose Moab’s flank beginning with its frontier cities, the pride of the land: Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim.

then I will bring you down to be with those who descend to the Pit, to the people of antiquity. I will make you dwell in the underworld like the ancient ruins, with those who descend to the Pit, so that you will no longer be inhabited or display your splendor in the land of the living.

Judah and the land of Israel were your merchants. They exchanged wheat from Minnith, meal, honey, oil, and balm, for your goods.

“This is what the Lord God says: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples where they are scattered and demonstrate My holiness through them in the sight of the nations, then they will live in their own land, which I gave to My servant Jacob.

The land of Egypt will be a desolate ruin. Then they will know that I am Yahweh. Because you said, ‘The Nile is my own; I made it,’

therefore, I am against you and your Nile. I will turn the land of Egypt into ruins, a desolate waste from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush.

I will make the land of Egypt a desolation among desolate lands, and its cities will be a desolation among ruined cities for 40 years. I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them across the countries.

I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom.

Therefore this is what the Lord God says: I am going to give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will carry off its wealth, seizing its spoil and taking its plunder. This will be his army’s compensation.

I have given him the land of Egypt as the pay he labored for, since they worked for Me.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Cush, Put, and Lud,and all the various foreign troops,plus Libya and the men of the covenant landwill fall by the sword along with them.

He along with his people,ruthless men from the nations,will be brought in to destroy the land.They will draw their swords against Egyptand fill the land with the slain.

I will make the streams dryand sell the land into the hands of evil men.I will bring desolationon the land and everything in itby the hands of foreigners.I, Yahweh, have spoken.

This is what the Lord God says:I will destroy the idols and put an endto the false gods in Memphis.There will no longer bea prince from the land of Egypt.So I will instill fear in that land.

I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king, but Pharaoh’s arms will fall. They will know that I am Yahweh when I place My sword in the hand of Babylon’s king and he wields it against the land of Egypt.

I will abandon you on the landand hurl you on the open field.I will cause all the birds of the skyto settle on youand let the beasts of the entire eartheat their fill of you.

I will drench the landwith the flow of your blood,even to the mountains;the ravines will be filled with your gore.

When I make the land of Egypt a desolation,so that it is emptied of everything in it,when I strike down all who live there,then they will know that I am Yahweh.

Her graves are set in the deepest regions of the Pit,and her company is all around her burial place.All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—those who once spread terrorin the land of the living.

Elam is therewith all her hordes around her grave.All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—those who went down to the underworld uncircumcised,who once spread their terrorin the land of the living.They bear their disgracewith those who descend to the Pit.

Among the slainthey prepare a resting place for Elamwith all her hordes.Her graves are all around her.All of them are uncircumcised,slain by the sword,although their terror was once spreadin the land of the living.They bear their disgracewith those who descend to the Pit.They are placed among the slain.

Meshech and Tubal are there,with all their hordes.Their graves are all around them.All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword,although their terror was once spreadin the land of the living.

They do not lie downwith the fallen warriors of the uncircumcised,who went down to Sheolwith their weapons of war,whose swords were placed under their heads.The punishment for their sinsrested on their bones,although the terror of these warriorswas once in the land of the living.

“Son of man, speak to your people and tell them: Suppose I bring the sword against a land, and the people of that land select a man from among them, appointing him as their watchman,

and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows his trumpet to warn the people.

“Son of man, those who live in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one person, yet he received possession of the land. But we are many; the land has been given to us as a possession.’

Therefore say to them: This is what the Lord God says: You eat meat with blood in it, raise your eyes to your idols, and shed blood. Should you then receive possession of the land?

You have relied on your swords, you have committed detestable acts, and each of you has defiled his neighbor’s wife. Should you then receive possession of the land?

I will make the land a desolate waste, and its proud strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will become desolate, with no one passing through.

They will know that I am Yahweh when I make the land a desolate waste because of all the detestable acts they have committed.

I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will shepherd them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the land.

“I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate dangerous animals in the land, so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest.

The trees of the field will give their fruit, and the land will yield its produce; My flock will be secure in their land. They will know that I am Yahweh when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslave them.

They will no longer be prey for the nations, and the wild animals of the land will not consume them. They will live securely, and no one will frighten them.

I will establish for them a place renowned for its agriculture, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land. They will no longer endure the insults of the nations.

“This is what the Lord God says: Certainly in My burning zeal I speak against the rest of the nations and all of Edom, who took My land as their own possession with wholehearted rejoicing and utter contempt so that its pastureland became plunder.

Therefore, prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: This is what the Lord God says: Look, I speak in My burning zeal because you have endured the insults of the nations.

“Son of man, while the house of Israel lived in their land, they defiled it with their conduct and actions. Their behavior before Me was like menstrual impurity.

So I poured out My wrath on them because of the blood they had shed on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols.

When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said about them, ‘These are the people of Yahweh, yet they had to leave His land in exile.’

“For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.

Then you will live in the land that I gave your fathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God.

The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of everyone who passes by.