The Valley of Dry Bones
1 See ch. 1:3The hand of the Lord was upon me, and See ch. 3:12he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley;37:1 Or plain; also verse 2 it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, See ch. 2:1"Son of man, [1 Cor. 15:35] can these bones live?" And [Deut. 32:39;John 5:21]I answered, "O Lord God, you know." 4 Then he said to me, [ch. 6:2] "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, [John 5:28]O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause [Gen. 2:7]breath37:5 Or spirit; also verses 6, 8, 9, 10 to enter you, and you shall live. 6 [ver. 8] And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and [ver. 8] cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, See ch. 6:7and you shall know that I am the Lord."
7 So I prophesied ch. 12:7;24:18as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, [1 Kgs. 19:11]a rattling,37:7 Or an earthquake (compare 3:12, 13) and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But [ver. 5]there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, [See ver. 4above] "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, [See ver. 3above] son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from Dan. 7:2;11:4;Rev. 7:1the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live." 10 So I prophesied [See ver. 7above] as he commanded me, and Rev. 11:11the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
11 Then he said to me, [See ver. 3above] "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and [ch. 33:10;Isa. 49:14] our hope is lost; Lam. 3:54we are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore [See ver. 4above] prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, [Isa. 26:19;Hos. 13:14] I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And ver. 21, 25;ch. 36:24I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And See ch. 6:7you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And ch. 36:27I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; See ch. 17:24I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord."
I Will Be Their God; They Shall Be My People
15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 See ch. 2:1"Son of man, [Num. 17:2] take a stick37:16 Or one piece of wood; also verses 17, 19, 20 and write on it, ‘For [Zech. 10:6] Judah, and 2 Chr. 11:12,13,16;15:9;30:11,18the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For [Zech. 10:6] Joseph (the stick of Gen. 48:13,14,19;[Hos. 5:3,5]Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ 17 And [ver. 37:22,24] join them one to another into one stick, that [Isa. 11:13] they may become [ch. 35:10]one in your hand. 18 And when See ch. 33:2your people say to you, See ch. 12:9‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’ 19 say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am about to take [ver. 16] the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the [ver. 16] stick of Judah,37:19 Hebrew And I will place them on it, the stick of Judah and [ver. 17] make them one stick, [See ver. 17above]that they may be one in my hand. 20 When the sticks on which you write are in your hand See ch. 12:3before their eyes, 21 then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, ver. 25;ch. 36:24;See ch. 11:17I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and ver. 25;ch. 36:24;See ch. 11:17bring them to their own land. 22 And [ver. 17;Jer. 50:4] I will make them one nation in the land, on See ch. 6:2the mountains of Israel. And [ver. 24, 25;ch. 34:24] one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer [ch. 35:10]two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. 23 [ch. 36:25] They shall not ch. 14:11defile themselves anymore ch. 36:25with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But ch. 36:29I will save them from all the backslidings37:23 Many Hebrew manuscripts; other Hebrew manuscripts dwellings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and ch. 34:24,30;2 Cor. 6:16;Rev. 21:3;See Ex. 29:45;Lev. 26:12they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
24 "My servant See ch. 34:23David See Jer. 23:5shall be king over them, and they shall all have [ver. 22] one shepherd. ch. 36:27They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. 25 ch. 28:25They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there Isa. 60:21;Joel 3:20;Amos 9:15forever, and David my servant shall be their prince [John 12:34]forever. 26 ch. 34:25I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be See Isa. 55:3an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land37:26 Hebrew lacks in their land and See ch. 36:10multiply them, and will ver. 28;ch. 43:7;See ch. 11:16set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 Lev. 26:11;Rev. 21:3My dwelling place shall be with them, [See ver. 23above]and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Then See ch. 36:23the nations will know that See ch. 20:12I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when [See ver. 26above]my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore."