‏ Ezekiel 37

The Valley of Dry Bones

1 aThe hand of the Lord was upon me, and bhe brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley;
Or plain; also verse 2
it was full of bones.
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, dSon of man, ecan these bones live?” And fI answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4Then he said to me, gProphesy over these bones, and say to them, hO dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause ibreath
Or spirit; also verses 6, 9, 10
to enter you, and you shall live.
6 kAnd I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and lcover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, mand you shall know that I am the Lord.”

7So I prophesied nas I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, oa rattling,
Or  an earthquake (compare 3:12, 13)
and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
8And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But qthere was no breath in them. 9Then he said to me, rProphesy to the breath; prophesy, sson of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from tthe four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10So I prophesied uas he commanded me, and vthe breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

11Then he said to me, wSon of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and xour hope is lost; ywe are indeed cut off.’ 12Therefore zprophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, aaI will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And abI will bring you into the land of Israel. 13And acyou shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14And adI 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; aeI have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

I Will Be Their God, They Shall Be My People

15The word of the Lord came to me: 16 afSon of man, agtake a stick
Or one piece of wood; also verses 17, 19, 20
and write on it, ‘For aiJudah, and ajthe people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For akJoseph (the stick of alEphraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’
17And amjoin them one to another into one stick, that anthey may become aoone in your hand. 18And when apyour people say to you, aq‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’ 19say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am about to take arthe 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 asstick of Judah,
Hebrew  And I will place them on it, the stick of Judah
and aumake them one stick, avthat they may be one in my hand.
20When the sticks on which you write are in your hand awbefore their eyes, 21then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, axI will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and aybring them to their own land. 22And azI will make them one nation in the land, on bathe mountains of Israel. And bbone king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer bctwo nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. 23 bdThey shall not bedefile themselves anymore bfwith their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But bgI will save them from all the backslidings
Many Hebrew manuscripts; other Hebrew manuscripts dwellings
in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and bithey shall be my people, and I will be their God.

24“My servant bjDavid bkshall be king over them, and they shall all have blone shepherd. bmThey shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. 25 bnThey 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 boforever, and David my servant shall be their prince bpforever. 26 bqI will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be bran everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land
Hebrew lacks  in their land
and btmultiply them, and will buset my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.
27 bvMy dwelling place shall be with them, bwand I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28Then bxthe nations will know that byI am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when bzmy sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”

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