Dry Bones Live Again
1 Some time later, I felt the Lord's power take control of me, and his Spirit carried me to a valley full of bones. 2 The Lord showed me all around, and everywhere I looked I saw bones that were dried out. 3 He said, “Ezekiel, son of man, can these bones come back to life?”
I replied, “Lord God, only you can answer that.”
4 He then told me to say:
Dry bones, listen to what the Lord is saying to you, 5 “I, the Lord God, will put breath in you, and once again you will live. 6 I will wrap you with muscles and skin and breathe life into you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”
7 I did what the Lord said, but before I finished speaking, I heard a rattling noise. The bones were coming together! 8 I saw muscles and skin cover the bones, but they had no life in them.
9 The Lord said:
Ezekiel, now say to the wind, “The Lord God commands you to blow from every direction and to breathe life into these dead bodies, so they can live again.”
10 As soon as I said this, the wind blew among the bodies, and they came back to life! They all stood up, and there were enough to make a large army.
11 The Lord said:
Ezekiel, the people of Israel are like dead bones. They complain that they are dried up and that they have no hope for the future. 12 So tell them, “I, the Lord God, promise to open your graves and set you free. I will bring you back to Israel, 13 and when that happens, you will realize that I am the Lord. 14 My Spirit will give you breath, and you will live again. I will bring you home, and you will know that I have kept my promise. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
Judah and Israel Together Again
15 The Lord said:
16 Ezekiel, son of man, get a stick and write on it, “The kingdom of Judah.” Then get another stick and write on it, “The kingdom of Israel.” 17 Hold these two sticks end to end, so they look like one stick. 18 And when your people ask you what this means, 19 tell them that I, the Lord, will join together the stick of Israel and the stick of Judah. I will hold them in my hand, and they will become one.
20 Hold these two sticks where they can be seen by everyone 21 and then say:
I, the Lord God, will gather the people of Israel and bring them home from the foreign nations where they now live. 22 I will make them into one nation and let them once again live in the land of Israel. Only one king will rule them, and they will never again be divided into two nations. 23 They will no longer worship idols and do things that make them unacceptable to me. I will wash away their sin and make them clean, and I will protect them from everything that makes them unclean. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
24-25 Their king will always come from the family of my servant King David and will care for them like a shepherd. The people of Israel will faithfully obey my laws. They and their descendants will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, just as their ancestors did. 26 I solemnly promise to bless the people of Israel with unending peace. I will protect them and let them become a powerful nation. My temple will stand in Israel for all time, 27 and I will live among my people and be their God. 28 Every nation on earth will know that my temple is in Israel and that I have chosen the Israelites to be my people.
1 The hand of the Lord was vpon me, and caryed me out in ye spirit of ye Lord, and set me downe in ye mids of the field, which was full of bones. 2 And he led me round about by them, and beholde, they were very many in the open fielde, and lo, they were very drie. 3 And he sayde vnto me, Sonne of man, can these bones liue? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. 4 Againe he sayde vnto me, Prophecie vpon these bones and say vnto them, O ye dry bones, heare the word of the Lord. 5 Thus saith the Lord God vnto these bones, Behold, I wil cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall liue. 6 And I will lay sinewes vpon you, and make flesh growe vpon you, and couer you with skinne, and put breath in you, that ye may liue, and yee shall know that I am the Lord. 7 So I prophecied, as I was commanded: and as I prophecied, there was a noyse, and beholde, there was a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 8 And when I beheld, loe, the sinewes, and the flesh grewe vpon them, and aboue, the skinne couered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then sayd he vnto me, Prophecie vnto the winde: prophecie, sonne of man, and say to the winde, Thus sayth the Lord God, Come from the foure windes, O breath, and breathe vpon these slayne, that they may liue. 10 So I prophecied as hee had commanded me: and the breath came into them, and they liued, and stood vp vpon their feete, an exceeding great armie. 11 Then he sayd vnto me, Sonne of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is gone, and we are cleane cut off. 12 Therefore prophecie, and say vnto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Beholde, my people, I will open your graues, and cause you to come vp out of your sepulchres, and bring you into the lande of Israel, 13 And yee shall knowe that I am the Lord, when I haue opened your graues, O my people, and brought you vp out of your sepulchres, 14 And shall put my Spirit in you, and ye shall liue, and I shall place you in your owne land: then yee shall knowe that I the Lord haue spoken it, and performed it, sayth the Lord. 15 The word of the Lord came againe vnto me, saying, 16 Moreouer thou sonne of man, take thee a piece of wood, and write vpon it, Vnto Iudah, and to the children of Israel his companions the take another piece of wood, and write vpon it, Vnto Ioseph the tree of Ephraim, and to al the house of Israel his companions. 17 And thou shalt ioyne the one to another into one tree, and they shalbe as one in thine hand. 18 And when the children of thy people shall speake vnto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shewe vs what thou meanest by these? 19 Thou shalt answere them, Thus sayeth the Lord God, Behold, I wil take the tree of Ioseph, which is in the hande of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellowes, and will put them with him, euen with the tree of Iudah, and make them one tree, and they shalbe one in mine hand. 20 And the pieces of wood, whereon thou writest, shalbe in thine hand, in their sight. 21 And say vnto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Beholde, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and wil gather them on euery side, and bring them into their owne land. 22 And I will make them one people in the lande, vpon the mountaines of Israel, and one king shalbe king to them all: and they shalbe no more two peoples, neither bee deuided any more henceforth into two kingdomes. 23 Neither shall they bee polluted any more with their idoles, nor with their abominations, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will saue them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they haue sinned, and will clense them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. 24 And Dauid my seruant shalbe king ouer them, and they all shall haue one shepheard: they shall also walke in my iudgements, and obserue my statutes, and doe them. 25 And they shall dwell in the lande, that I haue giuen vnto Iaakob my seruant, where your fathers haue dwelt, and they shall dwel therein, euen they, and their sonnes, and their sonnes sonnes for euer, and my seruant Dauid shall bee their prince for euer. 26 Moreouer, I will make a couenant of peace with them: it shall be an euerlasting couenant with them, and I wil place them, and multiply them, and wil set my Sanctuarie among them for euermore. 27 My tabernacle also shalbe with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shalbe my people. 28 Thus the heathen shall knowe, that I the Lord do sanctifie Israel, when my Sanctuarie shall be among them for euermore.