Ezekiel 37
1 One day Yahweh gave me another vision. In the vision I felt the power [MTY] of God on me, and by his Spirit he took me to the middle of a valley. It was full of bones [of people who had been killed].
The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which [was] full of bones,
2 He led me to walk back and forth among those bones. I saw that there were very many bones there, bones that were very dry.
And caused me to pass by them around: and behold, [there were] very many in the open valley; and lo, [they were] very dry.
3 He asked me, “You human, [do you think that] these bones can become living [people again]?” I replied, “Yahweh my Lord, only you know [if that can happen].”
And he said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? and I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones. Say to them, ‘You dry bones, listen to what Yahweh says.
Again he said to me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say to them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
5 This is what Yahweh the Lord says to you bones: I will put my breath into each of you, and you will become alive again.
Thus saith the Lord GOD to these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
6 I will fasten tendons to your bones, and cause your bones to be covered with flesh. I will cover the flesh with skin. Then I will breathe into you, and you will become alive. When that happens, you will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].’”
And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD.
7 So I spoke to the bones what Yahweh commanded me to speak. As I was speaking, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bones joining to each other.
So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
8 While I was looking, I saw tendons fastening to them and flesh covering them, and then skin covered the flesh, but they did not breathe.
And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but [there was] no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “You human, prophesy to the wind. Say to the wind, ‘Wind [APO], Yahweh says to you, blow from all four directions. Breathe into these people who have been killed, in order that they can become alive again!’”
Then said he to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
10 So I said what he commanded me to say, and then breath entered them. They became alive and stood up, like a huge army.
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
11 Then he said to me, “You human, these bones represent all the Israeli people [MTY]. The people say, ‘[It is as though] our bones are dried up; there are no more good things that we can (hope for/confidently expect to happen to us); our nation is destroyed/finished.’
Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
12 So prophesy and say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: My people, [it will be as though] I will open your graves and cause your corpses to become alive again. I will bring you back to Israel.
Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 Then, what that happens, you my people will know that I, Yahweh the Lord, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].
And ye shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you out of your graves,
14 I will put my Spirit in you, and [it will be as though] you will become alive again, and I will enable you to live in your own land again. Then you will know that it is I, Yahweh, who said [that it would happen] and who has caused it to happen. That is what I, Yahweh, declare.’”
And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken [it], and performed [it], saith the LORD.
15 Yahweh gave me [another] message. He said,
The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,
16 “You human, take a piece of wood and write on it, ‘This represents Judah and all the tribes of Judah.’ Then take another piece of wood and write on it, ‘This represents Israel and all the tribes of Israel.’
Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and [for] all the house of Israel his companions:
17 Then join them together to become [as though they were] one piece of wood in your hand.
And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thy hand.
18 When your fellow Israelis ask you, ‘What does (this action/what you just did) mean?’,
And when the children of thy people shall speak to thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou [meanest] by these?
19 tell them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: One of the pieces of wood in my hand represents Israel and all the tribes of Israel. I am joining it to the piece of wood that represents Judah, to form one piece of wood in his hand.’
Say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand.
20 Then, [you human], hold up the pieces of wood that you have written on, in order that the people can see them.
And the sticks on which thou writest shall be in thy hand before their eyes.
21 Say to the people, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: I will take you Israeli people out of the countries to which you have been forced to go. I will gather you from all those nations and bring you back to your own land.
And say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will cause you to again be one nation in that land, on the mountains in Israel. And there will be one king to rule over all of you. Never again will you be two nations or divided into two kingdoms.
And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
23 No longer will you (defile yourselves/make yourselves unacceptable to me) by [worshiping] idols and disgusting statues [of your gods], because I will enable you to quit your sinful behavior and to stop rejecting me. You will be my people, and I will be your God.
Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 [Someone who will be like] [MET] [King] David who served [me well] will be the king [of your descendants], and [it will be as though] [MET] he will be their shepherd. They will carefully obey all my laws [DOU].
And David my servant [shall be] king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 They will live in the land that I gave to Jacob, who also served [me well]; they will live in the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren will live there forever, and [the one who will be like] [MET] [King] David will be their king forever.
And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers have dwelt, and they shall dwell in it, [even] they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David [shall be] their prince for ever.
26 I will make a peace agreement with them; it will be an agreement that will endure forever. I will again give them that land and cause their population to increase. And I will put my temple among them forever.
Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 The place where I will live will be among them; I will be their God and they will be my people.
My tabernacle also shall be with them: and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 Then, when my temple is forever there among them, the people of other nations will know that I, Yahweh, have caused the Israeli people to be set apart [to belong to me].’”
And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for ever.
