17 Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in its land, they defiled it with their behavior and their deeds. In my sight their behavior was like the impurity of a woman in menstruation.
18 So I poured out my fury upon them for the blood they poured out on the ground and for the idols with which they defiled it.
19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through other lands; according to their behavior and their deeds I carried out judgment against them.
20 But when they came to the nations, where they went, they desecrated my holy name, for people said of them: “These are the people of the Lord, yet they had to leave their land.”
21 So I relented because of my holy name which the house of Israel desecrated among the nations to which they came.
22 Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Not for your sake do I act, house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name, which you desecrated among the nations to which you came.
23 But I will show the holiness of my great name, desecrated among the nations, in whose midst you desecrated it. Then the nations shall know that I am the Lord—oracle of the Lord God—when through you I show my holiness before their very eyes.