Hesekiel 37 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

Hesekiel 37 | New International Reader’s Version

The valley of dry bones

1 The power of the LORD came on me. His Spirit brought me away from my home. He put me down in the middle of a valley. It was full of bones. 2 He led me to and fro among them. I saw a huge number of bones in the valley. The bones were very dry. 3 The LORD asked me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘LORD and King, you are the only one who knows.’ 4 Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones. Tell them, “Dry bones, listen to the LORD’s message. 5 The LORD and King speaks to you. He says, ‘I will put breath in you. Then you will come to life again. 6 I will attach tendons to you. I will put flesh on you. I will cover you with skin. So I will put breath in you. And you will come to life again. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’ ” ’ 7 So I prophesied just as the LORD commanded me to. As I was prophesying, I heard a noise. It was a rattling sound. The bones came together. One bone connected itself to another. 8 I saw tendons and flesh appear on them. Skin covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then the LORD said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell it, “The LORD and King says, ‘Breath, come from all four directions. Go into these people who have been killed. Then they can live.’ ” ’ 10 So I prophesied just as he commanded me to. And breath entered them. Then they came to life again. They stood up on their feet. They were like a huge army. 11 Then the LORD said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones stand for all the people of Israel. The people say, “Our bones are dried up. We’ve lost all hope. We are destroyed.” 12 So prophesy. Tell them, “The LORD and King says, ‘My people, I am going to open up your graves. I am going to bring you out of them. I will take you back to the land of Israel. 13 So I will open up your graves and bring you out of them. Then you will know that I am the LORD. You are my people. 14 I will put my Spirit in you. And you will live again. I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I have spoken. I have done it,’ announces the LORD.” ’

Israel will be one nation under one king

15 A message from the LORD came to me. The LORD said, 16 ‘Son of man, get a stick of wood. Write on it, “Belonging to the tribe of Judah and the Israelites who are connected with it.” Then get another stick. Write on it, “Ephraim’s stick. Belonging to the tribes of Joseph and all the Israelites connected with them.” 17 Join them together into one stick in your hand. 18 ‘Your people will ask you, “What do you mean by this?” 19 Tell them, “The LORD and King says, ‘I am going to get the stick of Joseph and the Israelites connected with it. That stick is in Ephraim’s hand. I am going to join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them a single stick of wood in my hand.’ ” 20 Show them the sticks you wrote on. 21 Tell them, “The LORD and King says, ‘I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them together from all around. I will bring them back to their own land. 22 There I will make them one nation. They will live on the mountains of Israel. All of them will have one king. They will never be two nations again. They will never again be separated into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer make themselves “unclean” by worshipping any of their evil gods. They will not do wrong things anymore. They always turn away from me. But I will save them from that sin. I will make them pure and “clean”. They will be my people. And I will be their God. 24 ‘ “ ‘A man who belongs to the family line of my servant David will be their king. All of them will have one shepherd. They will obey my laws. And they will be careful to keep my rules. 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob. That is where your people of long ago lived. They, their children, their children’s children, and their children after them will live there for ever. And my servant from David’s family line will be their prince for ever. 26 I will make a covenant with them. It promises to give them peace. The covenant will last for ever. I will make them my people. And I will cause there to be many of them. I will put my temple among them for ever. 27 I will live with them. I will be their God. And they will be my people. 28 My temple will be among them for ever. Then the nations will know that I make Israel holy. I am the LORD.’ ” ’

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English Standard Version

The Valley of Dry Bones

1 The 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;* 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, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath* to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And 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.” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling,* 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 there was no breath in them. 9 Then 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.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then 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.’ 12 Therefore 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. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And 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.”

I Will Be Their God; They Shall Be My People

15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, take a stick* 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.’ 17 And join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. 18 And when your people say to you, ‘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 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,* and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand. 20 When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, 21 then 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. 22 And 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. 23 They 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* in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 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. 25 They 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. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land* and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”