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;
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.
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.
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.
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;
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
15 And the word of the Lord 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:
17 Then, joining them one to another, make them one stick, so that they may be 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?
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.
20 And the sticks with your writing on them will be in your hand 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:
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
27 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 will be certain that I who make Israel holy am the Lord, when my holy place is among them for ever.
1 O poder do Senhor desceu sobre mim e fui transportado pelo Espírito de Deus a um vale cheio de ossadas.
2 Fez-me andar por ali, pelo meio deles. Era uma quantidade enorme de ossos, já extremamente ressequidos.
3 E disse-me:Homem mortal, poderão estes ossos tornarem-se novamente em pessoas? Senhor, só tu sabes se isso é possível, respondi
4 Então mandou que eu profetizasse para aqueles ossos o seguinte:Ossos secos, ouçam a palavra de Deus, porque o Senhor diz-vos assim: Vejam! Soprarei sobre vocês e tornarão a viver!
6 Serão revestidos de carne, de nervos e cobertos com pele; soprarei sobre vocês, e hão-de viver e saber que eu sou o Senhor.
7 Falei-lhes pois essas palavras da parte de Deus, tal como me disse, e começou a ouvir-se um ruído por todo o vale, ainda enquanto eu falava; tudo aquilo se agitava, os ossos juntando-se uns com os outros, de acordo com a estrutura do corpo. Continuei a olhar e vi que se iam revestindo de carne e de nervos; depois cobriram-se de pele. No entanto faltava-lhes a vida. Por isso disse-me que mandasse vir espírito sobre eles, assim: Diz o Senhor Deus: Vem dos quatro pontos cardiais, ó Espírito, e sopra sobre estes corpos inertes para que vivam. Disse então isso mesmo e os corpos puseram-se a mexer com vida; levantaram-se e faziam um exército imenso de gente.
11 Disse-me Deus: Estes ossos representam todo o povo de Israel. Eles falam assim: Não passamos de um montão de ossos ressequidos; já não nos resta esperança de espécie alguma
12 No entanto diz-lhe isto da parte do Senhor Deus:Povo meu, hei-de abrir-vos as sepulturas, e fazer com que se levantem e regressem à terra de Israel.
13 Por fim, ó meu povo, hão-de saber que eu sou o Senhor.
14 Porei o meu Espírito sobre vocês, para que vivam; e hão-de regressar à vossa terra natal. Dar-se-ão conta, nessa altura, de que eu, o Senhor, fiz aquilo que vos prometi.
15 Recebi novamente uma mensagem da parte do Senhor dizendo:
16 Pega numa vara e grava nela os seguintes dizeres: Esta vara representa Judá e as outras tribos suas aliadas. Pega depois noutra vara e escreve estas outras palavas: Esta vara representa todas as outras tribos de Israel. Seguidamente junta-as na tua mão, como se fossem uma só. Diz aos filhos do teu povo, pegando nas varas, de forma que vejam bem, o que o Senhor Deus lhes comunica: Tomarei as tribos de Israel e juntá-las-ei a Judá, de forma a que na minha mão se tornem numa só tribo.
21 Porque o Senhor Deus diz assim: Estou a juntar o povo de Israel do meio de todas as nações, e vou trazê-los para casa; vou trazê-los à sua terra natal de todas as partes do mundo, e unificá-los-ei numa só nação. Terão um só rei sobre eles. Nunca mais estarão divididos em duas nações.
23 Deixarão de se poluir a si próprios com idolatria e outros pecados. Purificá-los-ei de todas essas imundícies. Então, serão o meu verdadeiro povo e eu serei o seu Deus.
24 David, o meu servo será o seu rei, o seu único pastor. Obedecerão às minhas leis e a toda a minha vontade. Habitarão em terra de Israel, essa terra onde seus pais moraram e que eu dei ao meu servo Jacob. Tal como eles, também os seus filhos e todos os seus descendentes, pelas gerações fora ,viverão ali. O meu servo David será o seu chefe para sempre. Farei com eles uma aliança de paz, um pacto eterno. Abençoá-los-ei e os multiplicarei. O meu templo levantar-se-á para sempre no meio deles. Sim, a minha casa ali estará entre eles. Serei o seu Deus; eles serão o meu povo. Com o meu templo no meio deles, as nações verificarão que eu, o Senhor, elegi Israel para ser alvo especial das minhas bênçãos.