< Ezekiel 37 >

1 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.
The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
2 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.
And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live again?” So I said, “Lord Yahweh, you alone know.”
And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, you know.
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones. Listen to the word of Yahweh.
Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O all of you dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
5 The Lord Yahweh says this to these bones: Behold! I am about to put breath into you, and you will live.
Thus says the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and all of you shall live:
6 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.'”
And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and all of you shall live; and all of you shall know that I am the LORD.
7 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.
So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
8 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.
And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.
9 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.'”
Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus says the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
10 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.
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
11 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.'
Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
12 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.
Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 Then you will know that I am Yahweh, when I open your graves and bring you out from them, my people.
And all of you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 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.'”
And shall put my spirit in you, and all of you shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall all of you know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, says the LORD.
15 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 “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.'
Moreover, you son of man, take you one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 Bring both of them together into one stick, so that they become one in your hand.
And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in your hand.
18 When your people speak to you and say, 'Will you not tell us what these things of yours mean?'
And when the children of your people shall speak unto you, saying, Will you not show us what you mean by these?
19 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.'
Say unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 Hold in your hand the branches that you wrote on before their eyes.
And the sticks whereon you write shall be in your hand before their eyes.
21 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.
And say unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, where they be gone, and will gather them on 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 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.
And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.
23 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.
Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 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.
And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 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.
And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 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.
Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.
My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh who sets Israel apart, when my holy place is among them forever.'”
And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

< Ezekiel 37 >