Ezekiel 37
1 There has been a hand of YHWH on me, and He takes me forth in [the] Spirit of YHWH, and places me in the midst of the valley, and it is full of bones,
One day Yahweh gave me another vision. In the vision I felt the power [MTY] of God on me, and by his Spirit he took me to the middle of a valley. It was full of bones [of people who had been killed].
2 and He causes me to pass over by them, all around, and behold, very many [are] on the face of the valley, and behold—very dry.
He led me to walk back and forth among those bones. I saw that there were very many bones there, bones that were very dry.
3 And He says to me, “Son of man, do these bones live?” And I say, “O Lord YHWH, You have known.”
He asked me, “You human, [do you think that] these bones can become living [people again]?” I replied, “Yahweh my Lord, only you know [if that can happen].”
4 And He says to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones, and you have said to them, O dry bones, hear a word of YHWH!
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones. Say to them, ‘You dry bones, listen to what Yahweh says.
5 Thus said Lord YHWH to these bones: Behold, I am bringing a spirit into you, and you have lived,
This is what Yahweh the Lord says to you bones: I will put my breath into each of you, and you will become alive again.
6 and I have given sinews on you, and cause flesh to come up on you, and covered you over with skin, and given a spirit in you, and you have lived, and you have known that I [am] YHWH.”
I will fasten tendons to your bones, and cause your bones to be covered with flesh. I will cover the flesh with skin. Then I will breathe into you, and you will become alive. When that happens, you will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].’”
7 And I have prophesied as I have been commanded, and there is a noise as I am prophesying, and behold, a rushing, and the bones draw near, bone to its bone.
So I spoke to the bones what Yahweh commanded me to speak. As I was speaking, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bones joining to each other.
8 And I beheld, and behold, sinews [are] on them, and flesh has come up, and skin covers them over above—and there is no spirit in them.
While I was looking, I saw tendons fastening to them and flesh covering them, and then skin covered the flesh, but they did not breathe.
9 And He says to me: “Prophesy to the Spirit, prophesy, son of man, and you have said to the Spirit, Thus said Lord YHWH: Come in from the four winds, O Spirit, and breathe on these slain, and they live.”
Then he said to me, “You human, prophesy to the wind. Say to the wind, ‘Wind [APO], Yahweh says to you, blow from all four directions. Breathe into these people who have been killed, in order that they can become alive again!’”
10 And I have prophesied as He commanded me, and the Spirit comes into them, and they live, and stand on their feet—a very, very great force.
So I said what he commanded me to say, and then breath entered them. They became alive and stood up, like a huge army.
11 And He says to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they are saying, Our bones have dried up, And our hope has perished, We have been cut off by ourselves.
Then he said to me, “You human, these bones represent all the Israeli people [MTY]. The people say, ‘[It is as though] our bones are dried up; there are no more good things that we can (hope for/confidently expect to happen to us); our nation is destroyed/finished.’
12 Therefore, prophesy, and you have said to them, Thus said Lord YHWH: Behold, I am opening your graves, And have brought you up out of your graves, O My people, And brought you into the land of Israel.
So prophesy and say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: My people, [it will be as though] I will open your graves and cause your corpses to become alive again. I will bring you back to Israel.
13 And you have known that I [am] YHWH, In My opening your graves, And in My bringing you up out of your graves, O My people.
Then, what that happens, you my people will know that I, Yahweh the Lord, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].
14 And I have given My Spirit in you, and you have lived, And I have caused you to rest on your land, And you have known that I, YHWH, have spoken, and I have done [it], A declaration of YHWH.”
I will put my Spirit in you, and [it will be as though] you will become alive again, and I will enable you to live in your own land again. Then you will know that it is I, Yahweh, who said [that it would happen] and who has caused it to happen. That is what I, Yahweh, declare.’”
15 And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,
Yahweh gave me [another] message. He said,
16 “And you, son of man, take one stick for yourself, 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,
“You human, take a piece of wood and write on it, ‘This represents Judah and all the tribes of Judah.’ Then take another piece of wood and write on it, ‘This represents Israel and all the tribes of Israel.’
17 and bring them near to one another, to you, for one stick, and they have become one in your hand.
Then join them together to become [as though they were] one piece of wood in your hand.
18 And when sons of your people speak to you, saying, Do you not declare to us what these [are] to you?
When your fellow Israelis ask you, ‘What does (this action/what you just did) mean?’,
19 Speak to them, Thus said Lord YHWH: Behold, 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 to him, with the stick of Judah, and have made them become one stick, and they have been one in My hand.
tell them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: One of the pieces of wood in my hand represents Israel and all the tribes of Israel. I am joining it to the piece of wood that represents Judah, to form one piece of wood in his hand.’
20 And the sticks on which you write have been in your hand before your eyes,
Then, [you human], hold up the pieces of wood that you have written on, in order that the people can see them.
21 and speak to them, Thus said Lord YHWH: Behold, I am taking the sons of Israel, From among the nations to where they have gone, And have gathered them from all around, And I have brought them into their land.
Say to the people, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: I will take you Israeli people out of the countries to which you have been forced to go. I will gather you from all those nations and bring you back to your own 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 longer as two nations, Nor are they divided anymore into two kingdoms again.
And I will cause you to again be one nation in that land, on the mountains in Israel. And there will be one king to rule over all of you. Never again will you be two nations or divided into two kingdoms.
23 Nor are they defiled anymore 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 am to them for God.
No longer will you (defile yourselves/make yourselves unacceptable to me) by [worshiping] idols and disgusting statues [of your gods], because I will enable you to quit your sinful behavior and to stop rejecting me. You will be my people, and I will be your God.
24 And My servant David [is] king over them, And they all have one shepherd, And they go in My judgments, And they keep My statutes, and have done them.
[Someone who will be like] [MET] [King] David who served [me well] will be the king [of your descendants], and [it will be as though] [MET] he will be their shepherd. They will carefully obey all my laws [DOU].
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—for all time, And My servant David [is] their prince for all time.
They will live in the land that I gave to Jacob, who also served [me well]; they will live in the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren will live there forever, and [the one who will be like] [MET] [King] David will be their king forever.
26 And I have made a covenant of peace with them, It is a perpetual covenant with them, And I have placed them, and multiplied them, And placed My sanctuary in their midst for all time.
I will make a peace agreement with them; it will be an agreement that will endure forever. I will again give them that land and cause their population to increase. And I will put my temple among them forever.
27 And My dwelling place has been over them, And I have been to them for God, And they have been to Me for a people.
The place where I will live will be among them; I will be their God and they will be my people.
28 And the nations have known that I, YHWH, am sanctifying Israel, In My sanctuary being in their midst for all time!”
Then, when my temple is forever there among them, the people of other nations will know that I, Yahweh, have caused the Israeli people to be set apart [to belong to me].’”
