< Jezekiel 37 >
1 And the hand of the Lord came upon me, and the Lord brought me forth by the Spirit, and set me in the midst of the plain, and it was full of human bones.
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;
2 And he led me round about them every way: and, behold, [there were] very many on the face of the plain, very dry.
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.
3 And he said to me, Son of man, will these bones live? and I said, O Lord God, thou knowest this.
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.
4 And he said to me, Prophesy upon these bones, and thou shalt say to them, Ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
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.
5 Thus saith the Lord to these bones; Behold, I [will] bring upon you the breath of life:
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;
6 and I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and will spread skin upon you, and will put my Spirit into you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
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.
7 So I prophesied as [the Lord] commanded me: and it came to pass while I was prophesying, that, behold, [there was] a shaking, and the bones approached each one to his joint.
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.
8 And I looked, and behold, sinews and flesh grew upon them, and skin came upon them above: but there was not breath in them.
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.
9 And he said to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord; Come from the four winds, and breathe upon these dead [men], and let them live.
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.
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath entered into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, a very great congregation.
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.
11 And the Lord spoke to me, saying, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: and they say, Our bones are become dry, our hope has perished, we are quite spent.
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.
12 Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I [will] open your tombs, and will bring you up out of your tombs, and will bring you into the land of Israel.
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.
13 And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, that I may bring up my people from [their] graves.
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.
14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and ye shall live, and I will place you upon your own land: and ye shall know that I [am] the Lord; I have spoken, and will do [it], saith the Lord.
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.
15 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
16 Son of man, take for thyself a rod, and write upon it, Juda, and the children of Israel his adherents; and thou shalt take for thyself another rod, and thou shalt inscribe it for Joseph, the rod of Ephraim, and all the children of Israel that belong to him.
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:
17 And thou shalt joint them together for thyself, so as that they should bind themselves into one stick; and they shall be in thine hand.
Then, joining them one to another, make them one stick, so that they may be one in your hand.
18 And it shall come to pass, when the children of thy people shall say to thee, Wilt thou not tell us what thou meanest by these things?
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?
19 Then shalt thou say to them, Thus saith the Lord; behold, I will take the tribe of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel that belong to him, and I will add them to the tribe of Juda, and they shall become one rod in the hand of Juda.
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.
20 And the rods on which thou didst write shall be in thine hand in their presence.
And the sticks with your writing on them will be in your hand before their eyes.
21 And thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I [will] take the whole house of Israel out of the midst of the nations, among whom they have gone, and I will gather them from all that are round about them, and I will bring them into the land of Israel.
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:
22 And I will make them a nation in my land, even on the mountains of Israel; and they shall have one prince: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided any more at all into two kingdoms:
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:
23 that they may no more defile themselves with their idols; and I will deliver them from all their transgressions whereby they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be to me a people, and I the Lord will be to them a God.
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.
24 And my servant David [shall be] a prince in the midst of them: there shall be one shepherd of [them] all; for they shall walk in mine ordinances, and keep my judgments, and do them.
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.
25 And they shall dwell in their land, which I have given to my servant Jacob, where their fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell upon it: and David my servant [shall be their] prince forever.
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.
26 And I will make with them a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will establish my sanctuary in the midst of them for ever.
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.
27 And my tabernacle shall be among them; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be my people.
And my House will be over them; and I will be to them a God, and they will be to me a people.
28 And the nations shall know that I am the Lord that sanctifies them, when my sanctuary is in the midst of them for ever.
And the nations will be certain that I who make Israel holy am the Lord, when my holy place is among them for ever.