Ezekiel 37
1 The hand of the Lord had been on me, and he took me out in the spirit of the Lord and put me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones;
The hand of Yahweh was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of Yahweh and set me down in the midst of a valley; it was full of bones.
2 And he made me go past them round about: and I saw that there was a very great number of them on the face of the wide valley, and they were very dry.
Then he made me pass through them round and round. Behold! A great many of them were in the valley. Behold! They were very dry.
3 And he said to me, Son of man, is it possible for these bones to come to life? And I made answer, and said, It is for you to say, O Lord.
He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live again?” So I said, “Lord Yahweh, you alone know.”
4 And again he said to me, Be a prophet to these bones, and say to them, O you dry bones, give ear to the word of the Lord.
Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones. Listen to the word of Yahweh.
5 This is what the Lord has said to these bones: See, I will make breath come into you so that you may come to life;
The Lord Yahweh says this to these bones: Behold! I am about to put breath into you, and you will live.
6 And I will put muscles on you and make flesh come on you, and put skin over you, and breath into you, so that you may have life; and you will be certain that I am the Lord.
I will place sinews over you and bring flesh onto you. I will cover you with skin and put breath within you so you will live. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.'”
7 So I gave the word as I was ordered: and at my words there was a shaking of the earth, and the bones came together, bone to bone.
So I prophesied as I was commanded; as I prophesied, behold, a sound came, that of shaking. Then the bones drew together—bone against bone.
8 And looking I saw that there were muscles on them and flesh came up, and they were covered with skin: but there was no breath in them.
I looked and, behold, sinews were now on them, and flesh grew up and skin covered them. But there was still no breath in them.
9 And he said to me, Be a prophet to the wind, be a prophet, son of man, and say to the wind, The Lord has said: Come from the four winds, O wind, breathing on these dead so that they may come to life.
Then Yahweh said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: Breath, come from the four winds, and breathe on these who have been killed, so they may live.'”
10 And I gave the word at his orders, and breath came into them, and they came to life and got up on their feet, a very great army.
So I prophesied as I was commanded; the breath came into them and they lived. Then they stood on their feet, a very great army.
11 Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are all the children of Israel: and see, they are saying, Our bones have become dry our hope is gone, we are cut off completely.
Then Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the entire house of Israel. Behold! They are saying, 'Our bones have dried up, and our hope is gone. We have been cut off.'
12 For this cause be a prophet to them, and say, This is what the Lord has said: See, I am opening the resting-places of your dead, and I will make you come up out of your resting-places, O my people; and I will take you into the land of Israel.
Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I will open your graves and lift you out from them, my people. I will bring you back to the land of Israel.
13 And you will be certain that I am the Lord by my opening the resting-places of your dead and making you come up out of your resting-places, O my people.
Then you will know that I am Yahweh, when I open your graves and bring you out from them, my people.
14 And I will put my spirit in you, so that you may come to life, and I will give you a rest in your land: and you will be certain that I the Lord have said it and have done it, says the Lord.
I will place my Spirit within you so you will live, and I will cause you to rest in your land when you know that I am Yahweh. I declare and will do it—this is Yahweh's declaration.'”
15 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
16 And you, son of man, take one stick, writing on it, For Judah and for the children of Israel who are in his company: then take another stick, writing on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the children of Israel who are in his company:
“So now you, son of man, take one stick for yourself and write on it, 'For Judah and for the people of Israel, his companions.' Then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the branch of Ephraim, and for all the people of Israel, their companions.'
17 Then, joining them one to another, make them one stick, so that they may be one in your hand.
Bring both of them together into one stick, so that they become one in your hand.
18 And when the children of your people say to you, Will you not make clear to us what these things have to do with us?
When your people speak to you and say, 'Will you not tell us what these things of yours mean?'
19 Then say to them, This is what the Lord has said: See, I am taking the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel who are in his company; and I will put it on the stick of Judah and make them one stick, and they will be one in my hand.
then say to them, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I am taking the branch of Joseph that is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel his companions and joining it to the branch of Judah, so that they will make one branch, and they will become one in my hand.'
20 And the sticks with your writing on them will be in your hand before their eyes.
Hold in your hand the branches that you wrote on before their eyes.
21 And say to them, These are the words of the Lord: See, I am taking the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and will get them together on every side, and take them into their land:
Declare to them, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I am about to take the people of Israel from among the nations where they went. I will gather them from the surrounding lands and I will bring them to their land.
22 And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king over them all: and they will no longer be two nations, and will no longer be parted into two kingdoms:
I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and there will be one king as king over all of them, and they will no longer be two nations. They will no longer be divided into two kingdoms.
23 And they will no longer make themselves unclean with their images or with their hated things or with any of their sins: but I will give them salvation from all their turning away in which they have done evil, and will make them clean; and they will be to me a people, and I will be to them a God.
Then they will no longer defile themselves with their idols, their disgusting things, or any of their other sins. For I will save them from all of their faithless actions with which they have sinned, and I will purify them, so they will be my people and I will be their God.
24 And my servant David will be king over them; and they will all have one keeper: and they will be guided by my orders and will keep my rules and do them.
David my servant will be king over them. So there will be one shepherd over them all, and they will walk according to my decrees and they will keep my statutes and obey them.
25 And they will be living in the land which I gave to Jacob, my servant, in which your fathers were living; and they will go on living there, they and their children and their children's children, for ever: and David, my servant, will be their ruler for ever.
They will live in the land that I have given to my servant Jacob, where your fathers had stayed. They will live in it forever—they, their children, and their grandchildren, for David my servant will be their chief forever.
26 And I will make an agreement of peace with them: it will be an eternal agreement with them: and I will have mercy on them and make their numbers great, and will put my holy place among them for ever.
I will establish a covenant of peace with them. It will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will establish them and multiply them and set my holy place in their midst forever.
27 And my House will be over them; and I will be to them a God, and they will be to me a people.
My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.
28 And the nations will be certain that I who make Israel holy am the Lord, when my holy place is among them for ever.
Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh who sets Israel apart, when my holy place is among them forever.'”
