Ezekiel 36:34

Modern

The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through.

Traditional

And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.

Literal

And the land that was desolate will be tilled, instead of that it has been a desolation before the eyes of all passing by.

Latin

…et terra deserta fuerit exculta, quæ quondam erat desolata in oculis omnis viatoris,

Hebrew

English

The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through.

Ezekiel reminded the people of their guilt and their need for God to change their hearts. In the future, God would cleanse his people.
In the Old Testament, objects and people are divided into "clean" and "unclean," "sacred" and "profane" categories (see “Clean, Unclean, and Holy” Theme Note).
God made Israel clean, but the Gentile nations remained unclean. Israel became unclean due to bloodshed and idolatry, which defiled the land. Because they acted like unclean nations, it was fitting for Israel to be scattered among them as punishment. In the future, God would make them clean so he could dwell among them again. Other nations, seeing his holiness in his people, would know he is the Holy One.
In the New Testament, God’s redemption through Christ redefines the lines between clean and unclean (see Acts 10:15). The Gentiles are no longer outside of God’s grace. They, too, can receive the Holy Spirit and become clean. Jews and Gentiles together now form the one people of God in Christ.
Those in Christ Jesus are not only clean but also holy because of his priesthood. Therefore, they can come boldly into God’s presence and experience his grace (Hebrews 12:18–29).

Theme notes and profiles

Ezekiel 6:14
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 the LORD.’”
Jeremiah 25:9–11
…behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
Deuteronomy 29:23–28
All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger.
2 Chronicles 36:21
So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah.