EzekielChapter 37

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¹The hand of the LORD was on me. He brought me out by his Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley. It was full of bones. ²He led me all around among them. I saw a huge number of bones on the floor of the valley. And they were very dry. ³Then he asked me, "Son of man, can these bones come to life?" I answered, "Lord GOD, only you know." ⁴Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones. Tell them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! ⁵This is what the Lord GOD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶I will put tendons on you. I will make flesh grow on 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.'" ⁷So I prophesied as I had been told. As I was prophesying, there was suddenly a noise, a rattling sound. And the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸As I watched, tendons appeared on them. Flesh grew, and skin covered them. But there was no breath in them. ⁹Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath that this is what the Lord GOD says: Come from the four winds, breath! Breathe into these people who were killed, so they may live!" ¹⁰So I prophesied as he told me. The breath entered them, and they came to life. They stood up on their feet. They were a huge army. ¹¹Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are all the people of Israel. Look, they are saying, 'Our bones are dried up. Our hope is gone. We are cut off.' ¹²So prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: 'My people, I will open your graves and bring you up out of them. I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD. You will know it when I open your graves and bring you up out of them. ¹⁴I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live. I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.'" ¹⁵The word of the LORD came to me again. He said, ¹⁶"And you, son of man, take a stick and write on it, 'For Judah and the Israelites joined with him.' Then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and for all the people of Israel joined with him.' ¹⁷Then join them together into one stick. They will become one in your hand. ¹⁸When your people ask you, 'Won't you tell us what you mean by these?' ¹⁹Then tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: 'I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in Ephraim's hand. I will take the tribes of Israel joined with him. I will put them together with the stick of Judah. I will make them into one stick, and they will become one in my hand.' ²⁰When the sticks you wrote on are in your hand, where the people can see them clearly, ²¹Then tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: 'I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around. I will bring them into their own land. ²²I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule over all of them. They will no longer be two nations. They will never again be split into two kingdoms. ²³They will no longer make themselves unclean with their idols, their disgusting images, or any of their wrongs. I will save them from all the ways they turned from me and sinned. I will make them clean. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God. ²⁴My servant David will be king over them. There will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow my rules. They will be careful to obey my laws. ²⁵They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They will live there forever, with their children and grandchildren. My servant David will be their prince forever. ²⁶I will make a covenant of peace with them. It will be a covenant that lasts forever. I will make them secure and make them many. I will put my sanctuary among them forever. ²⁷My home will be with them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. ²⁸Then the nations will know that I, the LORD, make Israel holy. They will know it when my sanctuary is among them forever.'"