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37 The hand of the Lord was made on me, and led me out in the spirit of the Lord; and he let go me in the midst of a field that was full of bones; (The hand of the Lord was made upon me, and led me out in the spirit of the Lord; and he let me go in the midst of a field that was full of bones;)

and he led me about by them in compass. Forsooth those were full many on the face of the field, and dry greatly. (and he led me about all around them. And they were a great many on the face of the field, and they were all dried up.)

And he said to me, Guessest thou, son of man, whether these bones shall live? And I said, Lord God, thou knowest.

And he said to me, Prophesy thou of these bones (Prophesy thou over these bones/Prophesy thou to these bones); and thou shalt say to them, Ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

The Lord God saith these things to these bones, Lo! I shall send into you a spirit, and ye shall live. (The Lord God saith these things to these bones, Lo! I shall send breath into you, and ye shall live.)

And I shall give sinews on you, and I shall make fleshes to wax on you, and I shall stretch forth above skin in you, and I shall give a spirit to you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know, that I am the Lord. (And I shall make sinews upon you, and I shall make flesh to grow upon you, and I shall stretch forth skin over you, and I shall give breath to you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know, that I am the Lord.)

And I prophesied, as he commanded to me; forsooth a sound was made, while I prophesied, and lo! a stirring together, and bones came to bones, each to his jointure (each one to its joint, or to its joining).

And I saw, and lo! sinews and fleshes waxed upon those, and skin was stretched forth above in them, and those had no spirit. (And I saw, and lo! sinews and flesh grew upon them, and skin was stretched forth over them, but they had no breath.)

And he said to me, Prophesy thou to the spirit, prophesy thou, son of man; and thou shalt say to the spirit, The Lord God saith these things, Come, thou spirit, from four winds, and blow thou on these slain men, and live they again. (And he said to me, Prophesy thou to the wind, prophesy thou, son of man; and thou shalt say to the wind, The Lord God saith these things, Come, thou wind, from the four winds, and breathe thou into these slain, so that they can live again.)

10 And I prophesied, as he commanded to me; and the spirit entered into those bones, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a full great host. (And I prophesied, as he commanded me; and breath entered into those bones, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, yea, a very great army.)

11 And the Lord said to me, Thou, son of man, all these bones is the house of Israel; they say, Our bones dried, and our hope perished, and we be cut away. (And the Lord said to me, Thou, son of man, all these bones be the house of Israel; lo! they say, Our bones have dried up, and our hope hath perished, and we be cut off.)

12 Therefore prophesy thou, and thou shalt say to them, The Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall open your graves, and I shall lead you out of your sepulchres, my people (and I shall lead you out of your tombs, or out your graves, my people), and I shall lead you into your land [of] Israel.

13 And ye shall know, that I am the Lord, when I shall open your sepulchres, and shall lead you out of your burials, my people; (And ye shall know, that I am the Lord, when I shall open up your tombs, and shall lead you out of your graves, my people;)

14 and I shall give my spirit in you, and ye shall live. And I shall make you for to rest on your land; and ye shall know, that I the Lord spake, and did, saith the Lord God. (and I shall put my breath in you, and ye shall live. And I shall make you to rest in your own land; and ye shall know, that I the Lord spoke, and did it, saith the Lord God.)

15 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and he said,

16 And thou, son of man, take to thee one stick, and write thou on it, To Judah, and to the sons of Israel, and to his fellows. And take thou another stick, and write on it, Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and of all the house of Israel, and of his fellows. (And thou, son of man, get thyself a stick, and write thou on it, For Judah, and for the Israelites, his fellow citizens. And get thou another stick, and write on it, Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his fellow citizens.)

17 And join thou those sticks one to the tother into one stick to thee; and those shall be into onement in thine hand. (And join thou up those two sticks one to the other, to become one stick for thee; yea, they shall become one stick in thy hand.)

18 Soothly when the sons of thy people that speak, shall say to thee, Whether thou showest not to us, what thou wilt to thee in these things? (And when thy people shall speak to thee, and say, Showest thou not to us, what thou meanest by these things?)

19 thou shalt speak to them, The Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the lineages of Israel, that be joined to him, and I shall give them together with the stick of Judah; and I shall make them into one stick, and they shall be one in the hand of him. (thou shalt say to them, The Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, that be joined to him, and I shall put it together with the stick of Judah; and I shall make them into one stick, and they shall become one stick in my hand.)

20 Soothly the sticks on which thou hast written, shall be in thine hand before the eyes of them. (And the sticks on which thou hast written, shall be in thy hand before their eyes.)

21 And thou shalt say to them, The Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall take the sons of Israel from the midst of nations, to which they went forth (Lo! I shall take the Israelites from the midst of the nations, to which they went forth); and I shall gather them together on each side. And I shall bring them (back) to their (own) land,

22 and I shall make them one folk in the land, in the hills of Israel, and one king shall be commanding to all; and they shall no more be two folks, and they shall no more be parted into two realms. (and I shall make them one nation in the land, on the hills of Israel, and one king shall be commanding to all; and they shall no more be two nations, and they shall no more be divided into two kingdoms.)

23 And they shall no more be defouled in their idols, and their abominations, and in all their wickednesses. And I shall make them safe from all their seats, in which they sinned, and I shall cleanse them; and they shall be a people to me, and I shall be God to them. (And they shall no more be defiled with their idols, and their abominations, and with all their wickednesses. And I shall save them from all their ways, in which they sinned, and I shall cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I shall be their God.)

24 And my servant David shall be king on them, and one shepherd shall be of all them; they shall go in my dooms, and they shall keep my commandments, and shall do those. (And my servant David shall be the king over them, and there shall be one shepherd for all of them; they shall walk in my laws, and they shall keep, or shall obey, my commandments, and they shall do them.)

25 And they shall dwell on the land, which I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your fathers dwelled; and they shall dwell on that land, they, and the sons of them, and the sons of their sons, till into without end; and David, my servant, shall be the prince of them without end. (And they shall live on the land, which I gave to my servant Jacob, on which your fathers lived/on which their forefathers lived; and they shall live on that land, they, and their sons, and the sons of their sons, unto forever; and my servant David shall be their prince forever.)

26 And I shall smite to them a bond of peace; it shall be a covenant everlasting to them, and I shall ‘found’ them, and I shall multiply [them], and I shall give mine hallowing in the midst of them without end. (And I shall strike a covenant with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I shall ‘found’ them, and I shall multiply them, and I shall set my sanctuary, or my Temple, in the midst of them forever.)

27 And my tabernacle shall be among them, and I shall be God to them, and they shall be a people to me. (And my Tabernacle, or my Temple, shall be in their midst, and I shall be their God, and they shall be my people.)

28 And heathen men shall know, that I am the Lord, (the) hallower of Israel, when mine hallowing shall be in the midst of them without end. (And the heathen shall know, that I am the Lord, who maketh Israel holy to me, when my sanctuary shall be in their midst forever.)

The Valley of Dry Bones

37 The hand of the Lord was on me,(A) and he brought me out by the Spirit(B) of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley;(C) it was full of bones.(D) He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.(E)

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!(F) This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life.(G) I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.(H)’”

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath;(I) prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds(J) and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded(K) me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.(L)

11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’(M) 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.(N) 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord,(O) when I open your graves and bring you up from them.(P) 14 I will put my Spirit(Q) in you and you will live, and I will settle(R) you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.(S)’”

One Nation Under One King

15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites(T) associated with him.(U)’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’ 17 Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.(V)

18 “When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’(W) 19 say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’(X) 20 Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on 21 and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.(Y) 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel.(Z) There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.(AA) 23 They will no longer defile(AB) themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding,[b](AC) and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.(AD)

24 “‘My servant David(AE) will be king(AF) over them, and they will all have one shepherd.(AG) They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees.(AH) 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived.(AI) They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever,(AJ) and David my servant will be their prince forever.(AK) 26 I will make a covenant of peace(AL) with them; it will be an everlasting covenant.(AM) I will establish them and increase their numbers,(AN) and I will put my sanctuary among them(AO) forever.(AP) 27 My dwelling place(AQ) will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.(AR) 28 Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy,(AS) when my sanctuary is among them forever.(AT)’”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 37:5 The Hebrew for this word can also mean wind or spirit (see verses 6-14).
  2. Ezekiel 37:23 Many Hebrew manuscripts (see also Septuagint); most Hebrew manuscripts all their dwelling places where they sinned