< Ezekiel 37 >
1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
2 And he led me walk all around among them. And look, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and look, they were very dry.
3 And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "LORD, you know."
4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.'
5 Thus says the LORD to these bones: 'Look, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you will live.
6 And I will put tendons on you, and make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin, and 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 as I prophesied, there was a sound, and look, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone.
8 And I watched, and look, there were tendons 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 tell the breath, 'Thus says the LORD: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these corpses, that they may live.'"
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
11 Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are completely cut off.'
12 Therefore prophesy, and tell them, 'Thus says the LORD: Look, I will open your graves and will raise you from your graves, my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and raise you up out of your graves, my people.
14 And I will put my breath in you and you will live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you will know that I am the LORD; I have spoken it and I will do it,' says the LORD."
15 And the word of the LORD came again to me, saying,
16 "And you, son of man, take one stick and write on it, 'For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him.' Then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel associated with him.'
17 Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.
18 And when your people ask you, saying, 'Will you not tell us what these things mean?'
19 tell them, 'Thus says the LORD: "Look, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will put them on it, that is, on the stick of Judah, and make them into one stick, and they will be one in my hand."'
20 And the sticks on which you write on will be in your hand in front of them.
21 "Then say to them, 'Thus says the LORD: Look, I am going to take the people of Israel from among the nations where they are gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them into their own land.
22 And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them, and they will no longer be two nations, and no longer be divided into two kingdoms.
23 And they will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all their unfaithfulness in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And will they 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 shepherd. And they will walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they will live in the land that I gave to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived; and they and their children and their children's children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever.
26 And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will give to them and increase their numbers, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forever.
27 And my dwelling place will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be my people.
28 Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forever."'"
