Albert Barnes Commentary Ezekiel 36:3

"therefore prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because, even because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the nations, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and the evil report of the people;" — Ezekiel 36:3 (ASV)

The residue of the pagan - Those of the surrounding nations that had survived Jerusalem’s fall, and may have profited by it.