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Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones

37 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. He caused me to pass all around them, and behold, there were very many [human bones] in the open valley; and lo, they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”(A) Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’(B) Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will make [a]breath enter you so that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin, and I will put breath in you so that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’”

So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a [thundering] noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on the bones, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.(C)

The Vision Explained

11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is lost. We are completely cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will open your graves and make you come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you [back home] to the land of Israel.(D) 13 Then you will know [with confidence] that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and made you come up out of your graves, My people. 14 I will put My [b]Spirit in you and you will come to life, and I will place you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and fulfilled it,” says the Lord.’”

Reunion of Judah and Israel

15 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying, 16 “And you, son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’ 17 Then join them together into one stick, so that they may become one in your hand. 18 When your people say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’ 19 say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am going to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join the stick of Judah with it and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”’ 20 The sticks on which you write shall be in your hand before their eyes. 21 Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am going to take the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will [c]gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one [d]king will be king over all of them; and they will no longer be two nations, and will no longer be divided into two kingdoms.(E) 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all their transgressions in which they have sinned, and I will cleanse them. So they will be My people, and I will be their God.

The Davidic Kingdom

24 [e]My servant David will be king over them, and they all will have one shepherd. They will also walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. 25 They will live in the land where your fathers lived, [the land] that I gave to My servant Jacob, and they will live there, they and their children and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David will be their leader forever.(F) 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will put My sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 Then the nations will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord who sets apart and sanctifies Israel [for holy use], when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”’”

Prophecy about Gog and Future Invasion of Israel

38 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against Gog of the land of Magog, the chief ruler of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief ruler of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them magnificently clothed in full armor, a great horde with [f]buckler (small shield) and [large] shield, all of them wielding swords; Persia (Iran), Cush (Ethiopia), and Put (Libya, N. Africa) with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north and all its troops—many peoples with you.

You [Gog] be prepared; prepare yourself, you and all your hordes that are assembled around you, and be a guard and a lookout for them. After many days you will be summoned [for service]; in the latter years you shall come into the land that is restored from [the ravages of] the sword, where people have been gathered out of many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual wasteland; but its people were brought out of the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.(G) You will go up [against them], you will come like a storm; you shall be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.”

10 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “It will come about on that day that thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil plan, 11 and you will say, ‘I will go up against an open country; I will come against those who are at rest and peaceful, who live securely, all of them living without walls and having neither bars nor gates, 12 to take spoil and seize plunder, to turn your hand against the ruins which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the [g]center of the world [Israel].’ 13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish (southern Spain), with all its young lions (villages) will say to you, ‘Have you come to take spoil? Have you assembled your hordes [of fighting men] to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take great spoil?’”’

14 “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On that day when My people Israel live securely, will you not become aware of it [and become active]? 15 You will come from your place in the remote parts of the north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding horses, a great horde, and a mighty army; 16 and you will go up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. In the last days it will come about that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy through you before their eyes, O Gog.”

17 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants, the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you (Gog) against them? 18 It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord God, “that My wrath will rise and show on My face. 19 In My zeal and in My blazing rage I declare that on that day there will most certainly be a [h]great earthquake in the land of Israel, 20 so that the fishes of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals of the field, all the creatures that crawl on the earth, and all the men that are on the face of the earth will tremble and shake at My presence; the mountains will crumble, the steep places will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,” says the Lord God. “Every man’s (invading soldier’s) sword will be against his brother (ally) [in panic and confusion]. 22 With pestilence and with bloodshed I will enter into judgment with Gog; and I will rain on him torrents of rain with [great] hailstones, [i]fire and brimstone on his hordes and on the many nations that are with him.(H) 23 Thus I shall magnify Myself and demonstrate My greatness and sanctify Myself, and I will be recognized and will make Myself known in the sight of many nations; they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”’

Prophecy against Gog—Invaders Destroyed

39 “And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince (ruler) of Meshech and Tubal; and I will turn you around and lead you along, and bring you up from the remotest parts of the north, and I will bring you against the mountains of Israel. I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows to fall out of your right hand. You will fall [dead] on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the nations who are with you. I will give you to every kind of predatory bird and animal of the field as food. You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken,” says the Lord God. “I will also send fire on Magog and on those who live securely in the coastlands; and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.

“I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore; and the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, it is coming and it will be done,” says the Lord God. “That is the day of which I have spoken.

And [when you, Gog, no longer exist] those who live in the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both the [large] shields and the [j]bucklers (small shields), the bows and the arrows, the war clubs and the spears; and for seven years they will burn them. 10 They will not take any wood from the field or cut down and gather [any] firewood from the forests, because they will make their fires using the weapons. And they will take the spoil from those who despoiled them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them,” says the Lord God.

11 “And on that day I will give Gog a place for burial there in Israel, the valley of those who pass through east of the sea, and it will block the way of those who would pass through. So they will [k]bury Gog there with all his hordes, and they will call it the Valley of Hamon-gog (the multitude of Gog). 12 For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. 13 Yes, all the people of the land will bury them; and it will be to their renown on the day that I appear in My glory and brilliance,” says the Lord God. 14 “They will elect men who will constantly go through the land, [men commissioned] to bury those who were passing through, those bodies that lie unburied on the surface of the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will do a search. 15 As those who pass through the land pass through and anyone sees a human bone, he will set up a marker beside it, until the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. 16 And even the name of the city will be Hamonah. In this manner they shall cleanse the land.”’

17 “As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God, ‘Say to every kind of bird and to every animal of the field, “Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice that I am slaughtering for you, as a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you will eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan [east of the Jordan]. 19 So you will eat fat until you are filled and drink blood till you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast which I have prepared for you. 20 You will eat your fill at My table with horses and riders, with mighty men, and with all the men of war,” says the Lord God.

21 “And I will bring [and manifest] My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment and justice [in the punishment] which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them. 22 So the house of Israel will know [with absolute confidence] that I am the Lord their God from that day forward. 23 And the nations will know [without any doubt] that the house of Israel went into exile for their great sin, because they acted treacherously against Me; and I hid My face (favor, blessing) from them. So I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell [into captivity or were killed] by [the power of] the sword.(I) 24 I dealt with them in accordance with their uncleanness and their transgressions, and I hid My face from them.”’”

Israel Restored

25 Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob (Israel) and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine]. 26 They will forget their disgrace and all their treachery (unfaithfulness) which they perpetuated against Me, when they live securely in their own land and there is no one who makes them afraid. 27 When I bring them back from the nations and gather them out of their enemies’ lands, then I shall show Myself holy [and My justice and holiness will be vindicated] through them in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them to their own land. I will leave none of them there [among the nations] any longer. 29 I will not hide My face from them any longer, because I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,” says the Lord God.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 37:5 Or spirit, and so throughout the chapter.
  2. Ezekiel 37:14 Or breath.
  3. Ezekiel 37:21 See note 36:24.
  4. Ezekiel 37:22 A reference to the coming Messianic ruler, who would achieve for Israel what David had, but with perfection. See also note 34:23.
  5. Ezekiel 37:24 See note 34:23.
  6. Ezekiel 38:4 See note Jer 46:3.
  7. Ezekiel 38:12 Lit navel.
  8. Ezekiel 38:19 Today the Great Rift Valley, the longest fault line in the world (about 4,000 miles), runs from Syria through Israel to Mozambique in east Africa. Israel and the surrounding areas have experienced a significant number of moderate earthquakes (4.0 to 5.2 in magnitude) since the year 2000, and one could not rule out a massive earthquake even in the near future. Thus the stage is already set for the catastrophic earthquake described here.
  9. Ezekiel 38:22 Perhaps a volcanic explosion.
  10. Ezekiel 39:9 See note Jer 46:3.
  11. Ezekiel 39:11 The number of dead bodies left after the great catastrophe which God will send on Gog and his hordes will be innumerable. Their bodies will even interfere with traffic. The dead will not be killed in battle. God will destroy them by a great natural disaster (38:18-23). And not just some, but all of Gog’s hordes will die then (vv 4, 11); before they have had a chance to use their weapons, God will strike them from their hands (v 3).

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