Eze 36:16-37:28 | ESV | STEP | The word of the Lord came to me:

16 The word of the Lord came to me: 17 ^a“Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, ^bthey defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were ^clike the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity. 18 So ^dI poured out my wrath upon them ^efor the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols ^fwith which they had defiled it. 19 ^gI scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. ^hIn accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them. 20 But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, ⁱthey profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’ 21 But I had concern ^jfor my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.

I Will Put My Spirit Within You

22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: ^kIt is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, ^lwhich you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23 ^mAnd I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. ⁿAnd the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. 24 ^oI will take you ^pfrom the nations and gather you from all the countries and ^qbring you into your own land. 25 ^rI will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from ^sall your uncleannesses, and ^tfrom all your idols ^uI will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you ^va new heart, and ^wa new spirit I will put within you. ^xAnd I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 ^yAnd I will put my Spirit within you, ^zand cause you to walk in my statutes and ^aabe careful to obey my rules. ^{▼▼Or my just decrees} 28 ^acYou shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ^adyou shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 And ^aeI will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And ^afI will summon the grain and make it abundant and ^aglay no famine upon you. 30 ^ahI will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, ^aithat you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31 Then ^ajyou will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. 32 ^akIt is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

33 “Thus says the Lord God: On the day that ^alI cleanse you from all your iniquities, ^amI will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. 34 And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. 35 And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like ^anthe garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ 36 Then ^aothe nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the Lord; I have rebuilt the ruined places and ^apreplanted that which was desolate. ^aqI am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.

37 “Thus says the Lord God: This also ^arI will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: ^asto increase their people like ^ata flock. 38 Like the flock for sacrifices, ^{▼▼Hebrew flock of holy things} ^avlike the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so ^awshall the waste cities be filled with flocks of people. ^axThen they will know that I am the Lord.”

Ezekiel 37

The Valley of Dry Bones

1 ^ayThe hand of the Lord was upon me, and ^azhe 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. 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, ^bb“Son of man, ^bccan these bones live?” And ^bdI answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, ^be“Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, ^bfO dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause ^bgbreath ^{▼▼Or spirit; also verses 6, 9, 10} to enter you, and you shall live. 6 ^biAnd I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and ^bjcover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, ^bkand you shall know that I am the Lord.”

7 So I prophesied ^blas I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, ^bma rattling, ^{▼▼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 ^bothere was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, ^bp“Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, ^bqson of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from ^brthe four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied ^bsas he commanded me, and ^btthe breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

11 Then he said to me, ^bu“Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and ^bvour hope is lost; ^bwwe are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore ^bxprophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, ^byI will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And ^bzI will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And ^cayou shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And ^cbI 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; ^ccI 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 ^cd“Son of man, ^cetake a stick ^{▼▼Or one piece of wood; also verses 17, 19, 20} and write on it, ‘For ^cgJudah, and ^chthe people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For ^ciJoseph (the stick of ^cjEphraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ 17 And ^ckjoin them one to another into one stick, that ^clthey may become ^cmone in your hand. 18 And when ^cnyour people say to you, ^co‘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 ^cpthe 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 ^cqstick of Judah, ^{▼▼Hebrew And I will place them on it, the stick of Judah} and ^csmake them one stick, ^ctthat they may be one in my hand. 20 When the sticks on which you write are in your hand ^cubefore their eyes, 21 then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, ^cvI will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and ^cwbring them to their own land. 22 And ^cxI will make them one nation in the land, on ^cythe mountains of Israel. And ^czone king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer ^datwo nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. 23 ^dbThey shall not ^dcdefile themselves anymore ^ddwith their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But ^deI will save them from all the backslidings ^{▼▼Many Hebrew manuscripts; other Hebrew manuscripts dwellings} in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and ^dgthey shall be my people, and I will be their God.

24 “My servant ^dhDavid ^dishall be king over them, and they shall all have ^djone shepherd. ^dkThey shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. 25 ^dlThey 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 ^dmforever, and David my servant shall be their prince ^dnforever. 26 ^doI will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be ^dpan everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land ^{▼▼Hebrew lacks in their land} and ^drmultiply them, and will ^dsset my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 ^dtMy dwelling place shall be with them, ^duand I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Then ^dvthe nations will know that ^dwI am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when ^dxmy sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”