Top of Page
Page Style
hand of the Lord came upon me, and He brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 Then He caused me to pass back and forth around them, and I saw that there were very many of them spread over the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I replied, “O Lord God, only You know.”
4 Then He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Lord God says to these bones: “I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live. 6 I will lay sinews on you, cover you with flesh, and form skin over you; I will put breath in you, and you will live. Then you will know that I am the Lord” ’.”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And while I was prophesying, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 As I looked, sinews and flesh appeared on them, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, O son of man, and say to the breath: ‘This is what the Lord God says: “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 came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army.
11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look how they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off completely’. 12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, O My people, I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, O My people, when I open your graves and bring you up from your graves. 14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you will live again, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done it”, declares the Lord’.”
15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him’. Then take another stick and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph—the stick of Ephraim—and all the house of Israel associated with him’. 17 Then join them together into one stick, so that they become one in your hand.
18 “When your any of your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’— 19 say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in the hand of Ephraim—and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will join it with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand’.
20 “When the sticks you have written on are in your hand before their eyes, 21 then say to them: ‘This is what the Lord God says: I am going to take the Israelites from out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from every side, and bring them into their own land. 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 will they be two nations, and never again will they be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, and by all their other transgressions. I will save them from all their sinful apostasies by which they have sinned, and I will cleanse them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.
24 “My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow My ordinances, and be careful to keep My statutes. 25 They will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They shall dwell there forever, they, their children, and their children’s children, and My servant David will be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will establish them and multiply them, and I will place My Sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 When My Sanctuary abides among them forever, the nations will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel” ’.”