< Ezekiel 37 >

1 The hand of the Lord had been on me, and he took me out in the spirit of the Lord and put me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones;
The hand of Yhwh was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of Yhwh, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
2 And he made me go past them round about: and I saw that there was a very great number of them on the face of the wide valley, and they were very dry.
And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
3 And he said to me, Son of man, is it possible for these bones to come to life? And I made answer, and said, It is for you to say, O Lord.
And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord Yhwh, thou knowest.
4 And again he said to me, Be a prophet to these bones, and say to them, O you dry bones, give ear to the word of the Lord.
Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of Yhwh.
5 This is what the Lord has said to these bones: See, I will make breath come into you so that you may come to life;
Thus saith the Lord Yhwh unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
6 And I will put muscles on you and make flesh come on you, and put skin over you, and breath into you, so that you may have life; and you will be certain that I am the Lord.
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 Yhwh.
7 So I gave the word as I was ordered: and at my words there was a shaking of the earth, and the bones came together, bone to bone.
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 And looking I saw that there were muscles on them and flesh came up, and they were covered with skin: but there was no breath in them.
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 And he said to me, Be a prophet to the wind, be a prophet, son of man, and say to the wind, The Lord has said: Come from the four winds, O wind, breathing on these dead so that they may come to life.
Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord Yhwh; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
10 And I gave the word at his orders, and breath came into them, and they came to life and got up on their feet, a very great 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, Son of man, these bones are all the children of Israel: and see, they are saying, Our bones have become dry our hope is gone, we are cut off completely.
Then he said unto 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 For this cause be a prophet to them, and say, This is what the Lord has said: See, I am opening the resting-places of your dead, and I will make you come up out of your resting-places, O my people; and I will take you into the land of Israel.
Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Yhwh; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And you will be certain that I am the Lord by my opening the resting-places of your dead and making you come up out of your resting-places, O my people.
And ye shall know that I am Yhwh, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And I will put my spirit in you, so that you may come to life, and I will give you a rest in your land: and you will be certain that I the Lord have said it and have done it, says the Lord.
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 Yhwh have spoken it, and performed it, saith Yhwh.
15 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
The word of Yhwh came again unto me, saying,
16 And you, son of man, take one stick, writing on it, For Judah and for the children of Israel who are in his company: then take another stick, writing on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the children of Israel who are in his company:
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, joining them one to another, make them one stick, so that they may be one in your hand.
And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of your people say to you, Will you not make clear to us what these things have to do with us?
And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Then say to them, This is what the Lord has said: See, I am taking the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel who are in his company; and I will put it on the stick of Judah and make them one stick, and they will be one in my hand.
Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Yhwh; 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 mine hand.
20 And the sticks with your writing on them will be in your hand before their eyes.
And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say to them, These are the words of the Lord: See, I am taking the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and will get them together on every side, and take them into their land:
And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Yhwh; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king over them all: and they will no longer be two nations, and will no longer be parted 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 And they will no longer make themselves unclean with their images or with their hated things or with any of their sins: but I will give them salvation from all their turning away in which they have done evil, and will make them clean; and they will be to me a people, and I will be to them a 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 dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 And my servant David will be king over them; and they will all have one keeper: and they will be guided by my orders and will keep my rules and do them.
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 And they will be living in the land which I gave to Jacob, my servant, in which your fathers were living; and they will go on living there, they and their children and their children's children, for ever: and David, my servant, will be their ruler for ever.
And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 And I will make an agreement of peace with them: it will be an eternal agreement with them: and I will have mercy on them and make their numbers great, and will put my holy place among them for ever.
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 And my House will be over them; and I will be to them a God, and they will be to me a people.
My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the nations will be certain that I who make Israel holy am the Lord, when my holy place is among them for ever.
And the heathen shall know that I Yhwh do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

< Ezekiel 37 >