1The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley;[1] it was full of bones. (Eze 1:3; Eze 3:12)2And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.3And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” (De 32:39; Eze 2:1; Joh 5:21; 1Co 15:35)4Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. (Eze 6:2; Joh 5:28)5Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath[2] to enter you, and you shall live. (Ge 2:7)6And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” (Eze 6:7; Eze 37:8)7So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling,[3] and the bones came together, bone to its bone. (1Ki 19:11; Eze 12:7; Eze 24:18)8And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. (Eze 37:5)9Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” (Eze 37:3; Eze 37:4; Da 7:2; Da 11:4; Re 7:1)10So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. (Eze 37:7; Re 11:11)11Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ (Isa 49:14; La 3:54; Eze 33:10; Eze 37:3)12Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. (Isa 26:19; Eze 36:24; Eze 37:4; Eze 37:21; Eze 37:25; Ho 13:14)13And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. (Eze 6:7)14And I 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; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.” (Eze 17:24; Eze 36:27)
I Will Be Their God; They Shall Be My People
15The word of the Lord came to me:16“Son of man, take a stick[4] and write on it, ‘For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ (Ge 48:13; Ge 48:19; Nu 17:2; 2Ch 11:12; 2Ch 11:16; 2Ch 15:9; 2Ch 30:11; 2Ch 30:18; Eze 2:1; Ho 5:3; Ho 5:5; Zec 10:6)17And join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. (Isa 11:13; Eze 35:10; Eze 37:22; Eze 37:24)18And when your people say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’ (Eze 12:9; Eze 33:2)19say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am about to take 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 stick of Judah,[5] and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand. (Eze 37:16; Eze 37:17)20When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, (Eze 12:3)21then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. (Eze 11:17; Eze 36:24; Eze 37:25)22And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. (Jer 50:4; Eze 6:2; Eze 34:24; Eze 35:10; Eze 37:17; Eze 37:24)23They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings[6] in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. (Ex 29:45; Le 26:12; Eze 14:11; Eze 34:24; Eze 34:30; Eze 36:25; Eze 36:29; 2Co 6:16; Re 21:3)24“My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. (Jer 23:5; Eze 34:23; Eze 36:27; Eze 37:22)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 forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. (Isa 60:21; Eze 28:25; Joe 3:20; Am 9:15; Joh 12:34)26I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land[7] and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. (Isa 55:3; Eze 11:16; Eze 34:25; Eze 36:10; Eze 37:28; Eze 43:7)27My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Le 26:11; Eze 37:23; Re 21:3)28Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” (Eze 20:12; Eze 36:23; Eze 37:26)