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37 There hath been upon me a hand of Jehovah, and He taketh me forth in the Spirit of Jehovah, and doth place me in the midst of the valley, and it is full of bones,

and He causeth me to pass over by them, all round about, and lo, very many [are] on the face of the valley, and lo, very dry.

And He saith unto me, `Son of man, do these bones live?' And I say, `O Lord Jehovah, Thou -- Thou hast known.'

And He saith unto me, `Prophesy concerning these bones, and thou hast said unto them: O dry bones, hear a word of Jehovah:

Thus said the Lord Jehovah to these bones: Lo, I am bringing into you a spirit, and ye have lived,

and I have given on you sinews, and cause flesh to come up upon you, and covered you over with skin, and given in you a spirit, and ye have lived, and ye have known that I [am] Jehovah.'

And I have prophesied as I have been commanded, and there is a noise, as I am prophesying, and lo, a rushing, and draw near do the bones, bone unto its bone.

And I beheld, and lo, on them [are] sinews, and flesh hath come up, and cover them doth skin over above -- and spirit there is none in them.

And He saith unto me: `Prophesy unto the Spirit, prophesy, son of man, and thou hast said unto the Spirit: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: From the four winds come in, O Spirit, and breathe on these slain, and they do live.'

10 And I have prophesied as He commanded me, and the Spirit cometh into them, and they live, and stand on their feet -- a very very great force.

11 And He saith unto me, `Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; lo, they are saying: Dried up have our bones, And perished hath our hope, We have been cut off by ourselves.

12 Therefore, prophesy, and thou hast said unto them, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am opening your graves, And have brought you up out of your graves, O My people, And brought you in unto the land of Israel.

13 And ye have known that I [am] Jehovah, In My opening your graves, And in My bringing you up out of your graves, O My people.

14 And I have given My Spirit in you, and ye have lived, And I have caused you to rest on your land, And ye have known that I Jehovah, I have spoken, and I have done [it], An affirmation of Jehovah.'

15 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

16 `And thou, son of man, take to thee one stick, and write on it, For Judah, and for the sons of Israel, his companions; and take another stick, and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel, his companions,

17 and bring them near one unto another, to thee, for one stick, and they have become one in thy hand.

18 `And when sons of thy people speak unto thee, saying, Dost thou not declare to us what these [are] to thee?

19 Speak unto them, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am taking the stick of Joseph, that [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions, and have given them unto him, with the stick of Judah, and have made them become one stick, and they have been one in My hand.

20 And the sticks on which thou writest have been in thy hand before thine eyes,

21 and speak thou unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am taking the sons of Israel, From among the nations whither they have gone, And have gathered them from round about, And I have brought them in unto their land.

22 And I have made them become one nation in the land, on mountains of Israel, And one king is to them all for king, And they are no more as two nations, Nor are they divided any more into two kingdoms again.

23 Nor are they defiled any more with their idols, And with their abominations, And with any of their transgressions, And I have saved them out of all their dwellings, In which they have sinned, And I have cleansed them, And they have been to Me for a people, And I -- I am to them for God.

24 And My servant David [is] king over them, And one shepherd have they all, And in My judgments they go, And My statutes they keep, and have done them.

25 And they have dwelt on the land that I gave to My servant, to Jacob, In which your fathers have dwelt, And they have dwelt on it, they and their sons, And their son's sons -- unto the age, And David My servant [is] their prince -- to the age.

26 And I have made to them a covenant of peace, A covenant age-during it is with them, And I have placed them, and multiplied them, And placed My sanctuary in their midst -- to the age.

27 And My tabernacle hath been over them, And I have been to them for God, And they have been to Me for a people.

28 And known have the nations that I Jehovah am sanctifying Israel, In My sanctuary being in their midst -- to the age!'

The Valley of Dry Bones

37 The hand of the Lord was on me,(A) and he brought me out by the Spirit(B) of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley;(C) it was full of bones.(D) He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.(E)

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!(F) This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life.(G) I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.(H)’”

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath;(I) prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds(J) and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded(K) me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.(L)

11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’(M) 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.(N) 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord,(O) when I open your graves and bring you up from them.(P) 14 I will put my Spirit(Q) in you and you will live, and I will settle(R) you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.(S)’”

One Nation Under One King

15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites(T) associated with him.(U)’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’ 17 Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.(V)

18 “When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’(W) 19 say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’(X) 20 Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on 21 and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.(Y) 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel.(Z) There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.(AA) 23 They will no longer defile(AB) themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding,[b](AC) and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.(AD)

24 “‘My servant David(AE) will be king(AF) over them, and they will all have one shepherd.(AG) They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees.(AH) 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived.(AI) They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever,(AJ) and David my servant will be their prince forever.(AK) 26 I will make a covenant of peace(AL) with them; it will be an everlasting covenant.(AM) I will establish them and increase their numbers,(AN) and I will put my sanctuary among them(AO) forever.(AP) 27 My dwelling place(AQ) will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.(AR) 28 Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy,(AS) when my sanctuary is among them forever.(AT)’”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 37:5 The Hebrew for this word can also mean wind or spirit (see verses 6-14).
  2. Ezekiel 37:23 Many Hebrew manuscripts (see also Septuagint); most Hebrew manuscripts all their dwelling places where they sinned