The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel 37 The Vision of a Valley of Dry Bones

 The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel 37

The Vision of a Valley of Dry Bones

1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and the Lord carried me away in the Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.

2 He led me around among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.

3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I answered, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!

5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.

6 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.’”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; And there was a noise, while I was prophesying; and behold, there was a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh grew, and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.

9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, 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 entered them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

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 cut off.’”

12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.

13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O my people.

14 And I will put my spirit within you, and ye shall live, and I will place you in your own land; and ye shall know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.

15 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

16 Therefore, O son of man, take a piece of wood, and write upon it, For Judah and the children of Israel his companions. And take another piece of wood, and write upon it, For Joseph the stick of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel his companions.

17 Join them together, so that they may become one in your hand.

18 And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, “Will you not tell us what these things mean?”

19 You shall say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the sticks of the tribes of Israel, his companions, and I will join them to the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall become one in my hand.’”

20 And the pieces of wood on which you have written shall be in your hand before their eyes.

21 Say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, where they have gone, and I will gather them from all sides, and I will bring them to their own land.’” 

22 And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king over them all; and they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever again be divided into two kingdoms.

23 And they shall no more defile themselves with their idols, nor with their abominations, nor with their transgressions; and I will deliver them from all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

24 And my servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd, and shall walk in my judgments, and keep my statutes, and observe them.

25 And they shall dwell in the land which I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children's children, for ever; and David my servant shall be their prince for ever.

26 And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant; And I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forever.

27 My tabernacle will be with them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.

28 Then the nations will know that I, the Lord, who sanctify Israel, will know that my sanctuary is in the midst of them forever.