Ezekiel 37-40

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Valley of Dry Bones

37 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.^{(A) 2} He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. ³ He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”^{(B) 4} Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. ⁵ Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath^[a] to enter you, and you shall live.^{(C) 6} I will lay sinews on you and will cause flesh to come upon you and cover you with skin and put breath^[b] in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”^(D)

⁷ So I prophesied as I had been commanded, and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸ I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them, but there was no breath in them. ⁹ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath:^[c] Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath,^[d] and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”^{(E) 10} I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.^(F)

¹¹ Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’^{(G) 12} Therefore prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people, and I will bring you back to the land of Israel.^{(H) 13} And you shall know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people.^{(I) 14} I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”^(J)

The Two Sticks

¹⁵ The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁶ Mortal, take a stick and write on it, “For Judah and the Israelites associated with it”; then take another stick and write on it, “For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with it”;^{(K) 17} and join them together into one stick, so that they may become one in your hand. ¹⁸ And when your people say to you, “Will you not show us what you mean by these?” ¹⁹ say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: I am about to take the stick of Joseph (which is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with it, and I will put the stick of Judah upon it^[e] and make them one stick, in order that they may be one in my hand.”^{(L) 20} When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, ²¹ then say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone and will gather them from every quarter and bring them to their own land.^{(M) 22} I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king over them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms.^{(N) 23} They shall never again defile themselves with their idols and their detestable things or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all the apostasies into which they have fallen^[f] and will cleanse them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God.^(O)

²⁴ “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes.^{(P) 25} They shall live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your ancestors lived; they and their children and their children’s children shall live there forever, and my servant David shall be their prince forever.^{(Q) 26} I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will bless^[g] them and multiply them and will set my sanctuary among them forevermore.^{(R) 27} My dwelling place shall be over them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.^{(S) 28} Then the nations shall know that I the Lord sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is among them forevermore.”^(T)

Invasion by Gog

38 The word of the Lord came to me: ² Mortal, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him^{(U) 3} and say: Thus says the Lord God: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; ⁴ I will turn you around and put hooks into your jaws, and I will lead you out with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company, all of them with shield and buckler, wielding swords.^{(V) 5} Paras, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with buckler and helmet;^{(W) 6} Gomer and all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remotest parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples are with you.^(X)

⁷ Be ready and keep ready, you and all the companies that are assembled around you, and take command of them.^{[h] 8} After many days you shall be mustered; in the latter years you shall go against a land restored from war, a land where people were gathered from many nations on the mountains of Israel, which had long lain waste; its people were brought out from the nations and now are living in safety, all of them.^{(Y) 9} You shall advance, coming on like a storm; you shall be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops and many peoples with you.^(Z)

¹⁰ Thus says the Lord God: On that day thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme.^{(AA) 11} You will say, “I will go up against the land of unwalled villages; I will fall upon the quiet people who live in safety, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates,^{(AB) 12} to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to assail the waste places that are now inhabited and the people who were gathered from the nations, who are acquiring cattle and goods, who live at the center^[i] of the earth.”^{(AC) 13} Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its young warriors^[j] will say to you, “Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your horde to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to seize a great amount of spoil?”^(AD)

¹⁴ Therefore, mortal, prophesy and say to Gog: Thus says the Lord God: On that day when my people Israel are living securely, you will rouse yourself^{[k](AE) 15} and come from your place out of the remotest parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army;^{(AF) 16} you will come up against my people Israel like a cloud covering the earth. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I display my holiness before their eyes.^(AG)

Judgment on Gog

¹⁷ Thus says the Lord God: Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied for years that I would bring you against them?^{(AH) 18} On that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel, says the Lord God, my wrath shall be aroused.^{(AI) 19} For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare: On that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;^{(AJ) 20} the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and the animals of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground and all humans who are on the face of the earth shall quake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground.^{(AK) 21} I will summon the sword against Gog^[l] in^[m] all my mountains, says the Lord God; the swords of all will be against their comrades.^{(AL) 22} With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will pour down torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur upon him and his troops and the many peoples who are with him.^{(AM) 23} So I will display my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.^(AN)

Gog’s Armies Destroyed

39 And you, mortal, prophesy against Gog and say: Thus says the Lord God: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal!^{(AO) 2} I will turn you around and drive you forward and bring you up from the remotest parts of the north and lead you against the mountains of Israel. ³ I will strike your bow from your left hand and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand.^{(AP) 4} You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every kind and to the wild animals to be devoured.^{(AQ) 5} You shall fall in the open field, for I have spoken, says the Lord God. ⁶ I will send fire on Magog and on those who live securely in the coastlands, and they shall know that I am the Lord.^(AR)

⁷ My holy name I will make known among my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned any more, and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.^{(AS) 8} It has come! It has happened, says the Lord God. This is the day of which I have spoken.

⁹ Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and make fires of the weapons and burn them—bucklers and shields, bows and arrows, clubs and spears—and they will make fires of them for seven years.^{(AT) 10} They will not need to take wood out of the field or cut down any trees in the forests, for they will make their fires of the weapons; they will despoil those who despoiled them and plunder those who plundered them, says the Lord God.^(AU)

The Burial of Gog

¹¹ On that day I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers^[n] east of the sea; it shall block the path of the travelers, for there Gog and all his horde will be buried; it shall be called the Valley of Hamon-gog.^{[o](AV) 12} Seven months the house of Israel shall spend burying them, in order to cleanse the land. ¹³ All the people of the land shall bury them, and it will bring them honor on the day that I show my glory, says the Lord God.^{(AW) 14} They will set apart men to pass through the land regularly and bury any invaders^[p] who remain on the face of the land, so as to cleanse it; for seven months they shall make their search.^{(AX) 15} As the searchers^[q] pass through the land, anyone who sees a human bone shall set up a sign by it until the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog.^{[r] 16} (A city Hamonah^[s] is there also.) Thus they shall cleanse the land.

¹⁷ As for you, mortal, thus says the Lord God: Speak to the birds of every kind and to all the wild animals: Assemble and come, gather from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood.^{(AY) 18} You shall eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the princes of the earth—of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bulls, all of them fatted calves of Bashan.^{(AZ) 19} You shall eat fat until you are filled and drink blood until you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you. ²⁰ And you shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with warriors and all kinds of soldiers, says the Lord God.^(BA)

Israel Restored to the Land

²¹ I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed and my hand that I have laid on them.^{(BB) 22} The house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward. ²³ And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt treacherously with me. So I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword.^{(BC) 24} I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions and hid my face from them.^(BD)

²⁵ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name.^{(BE) 26} They shall bear their shame, and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they live securely in their land with no one to make them afraid,^{(BF) 27} when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands and through them have displayed my holiness in the sight of many nations.^{(BG) 28} Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God because I sent them into exile among the nations and then gathered them into their own land. I will leave none of them behind,^{(BH) 29} and I will never again hide my face from them, when I pour out my spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord God.^(BI)

The Vision of the New Temple

40 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me there.^{(BJ) 2} He brought me, in visions of God, to the land of Israel and set me down upon a very high mountain on which was a structure like a city to the south.^{(BK) 3} When he brought me there, a man was there whose appearance shone like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand, and he was standing in the gateway.^{(BL) 4} The man said to me, “Mortal, look closely and listen attentively, and set your mind on all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you; declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”^(BM)

⁵ Now there was a wall all around the outside of the temple area. The length of the measuring reed in the man’s hand was six long cubits, each being a cubit and a handbreadth in length, so he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed, and the height, one reed. ⁶ Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep.^[t] There were^{(BN) 7} recesses, and each recess was one reed wide and one reed deep, and the space between the recesses, five cubits, and the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the gate at the inner end was one reed deep.^{(BO) 8} Then he measured the inner vestibule of the gateway, one reed. ⁹ Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits, and its posts, two cubits, and the vestibule of the gate was at the inner end. ¹⁰ There were three recesses on either side of the east gate; the three were of the same size, and the posts on either side were of the same size.^{(BP) 11} Then he measured the width of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits, and the width of the gateway, thirteen cubits. ¹² There was a barrier before the recesses, one cubit on either side, and each recess was six cubits square. ¹³ Then he measured the gate from the back^[u] of the one recess to the back^[v] of the other, a width of twenty-five cubits from wall to wall.^{[w] 14} He measured^[x] the vestibule (sixty cubits) and the gate next to the post on every side of the court.^{[y](BQ) 15} From the front of the gate at the entrance to the end of the inner vestibule of the gate was fifty cubits. ¹⁶ The recesses and their posts had windows, with shutters^[z] on the inside of the gateway all around, and the vestibules also had windows on the inside all around, and on the posts were palm trees.^(BR)

¹⁷ Then he brought me into the outer court; there were chambers there and a pavement all around the court; thirty chambers fronted on the pavement.^{(BS) 18} The pavement ran along the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement. ¹⁹ Then he measured the distance from the inner front of^[aa] the lower gate to the outer front of the inner court, one hundred cubits.^[ab](BT)

²⁰ Then he measured the gate of the outer court that faced north—its depth and width. ²¹ Its recesses, three on either side, and its posts and its vestibule were of the same size as those of the first gate; its depth was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits.^{(BU) 22} Its windows, its vestibule, and its palm trees were of the same size as those of the gate that faced toward the east. Seven steps led up to it, and its vestibule was on the inside.^{[ac](BV) 23} Opposite the gate on the north, as on the east, was a gate to the inner court; he measured from gate to gate, one hundred cubits.^(BW)

²⁴ Then he led me toward the south, and there was a gate on the south, and he measured its posts and its vestibule; they had the same dimensions as the others.^{(BX) 25} There were windows all around in it and in its vestibule, like the windows of the others; its depth was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits.^{(BY) 26} There were seven steps leading up to it; its vestibule was on the inside.^[ad] It had palm trees on its posts, one on either side.^{(BZ) 27} There was a gate on the south of the inner court, and he measured from gate to gate toward the south, one hundred cubits.^(CA)

²⁸ Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate, and he measured the south gate; it was of the same dimensions as the others.^{(CB) 29} Its recesses, its posts, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others, and there were windows all around in it and in its vestibule; its depth was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits.^{(CC) 30} There were vestibules all around the inner court,^[ae] twenty-five cubits deep and five cubits wide.^{(CD) 31} Its vestibule faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its posts, and its stairway had eight steps.^(CE)

³² Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gate; it was of the same size as the others.^{(CF) 33} Its recesses, its posts, and its vestibule were of the same dimensions as the others, and there were windows all around in it and in its vestibule; its depth was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits.^{(CG) 34} Its vestibule faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its posts, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps.^(CH)

³⁵ Then he brought me to the north gate, and he measured it; it had the same dimensions as the others.^{(CI) 36} Its recesses, its posts, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others,^[af] and it had windows all around. Its depth was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits.^{(CJ) 37} Its vestibule^[ag] faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its posts, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps.^(CK)

³⁸ There was a chamber with its door in the vestibule of the gate^[ah] where the burnt offering was to be washed.^{(CL) 39} And in the vestibule of the gate were two tables on either side on which the burnt offering and the purification offering and the guilt offering were to be slaughtered.^{(CM) 40} On the outside of the vestibule, where one goes up to the entrance of the north gate, were two tables, and on the other side of the vestibule of the gate were two tables. ⁴¹ Four tables were on one side and four tables on the other side of the gate, eight tables, on which the sacrifices were to be slaughtered. ⁴² There were also four tables of hewn stone for the burnt offering, a cubit and a half long, and one cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high, on which the instruments were to be laid with which the burnt offerings and the sacrifices were slaughtered.^{(CN) 43} There were pegs one handbreadth long fastened all around the inside. And on the tables the flesh of the offering was to be laid.

⁴⁴ On the outside of the inner gateway there were two chambers^[ai] in the inner court, one^[aj] at the side of the north gate facing south, the other at the side of the south^[ak] gate facing north.^{(CO) 45} He said to me, “This chamber that faces south is for the priests who have charge of the temple,^{(CP) 46} and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who have charge of the altar; these are the descendants of Zadok, who alone among the descendants of Levi may come near to the Lord to minister to him.”^{(CQ) 47} He measured the court, one hundred cubits deep and one hundred cubits wide, a square, and the altar was in front of the temple.^(CR)

The Temple

⁴⁸ Then he brought me to the vestibule of the temple and measured the posts of the vestibule, five cubits deep on either side, and the width of the gate between the posts^[al] was fourteen cubits, and the shoulders of the gate were three cubits wide on either side.^{[am] 49} The width of the vestibule was twenty cubits and the depth twelve^[an] cubits; ten steps led up^[ao] to it, and there were pillars beside the posts on either side.^(CS)