37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; it was full of bones. |
37:2 And he led me round among them; and behold, there were very many upon the valley; and lo, they were very dry. |
37:3 And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, thou knowest." |
37:4 Again he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. |
37:5 Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. |
37:6 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." |
37:7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. |
37:8 And as I looked, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. |
37:9 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 upon these slain, that they may live." |
37:10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great host. |
37:11 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 clean cut off.' |
37:12 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 home into the land of Israel. |
37:13 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. |
37:14 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, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done it, says the LORD." |
37:15 The word of the LORD came to me: |
37:16 "Son of man, take a stick and write on it, 'For Judah, and the children of Israel associated with him'; then take another stick and write upon it, 'For Joseph (the stick of E'phraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him'; |
37:17 and join them together into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. |
37:18 And when your people say to you, 'Will you not show us what you mean by these?' |
37:19 say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (which is in the hand of E'phraim) 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. |
37:20 When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, |
37:21 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 sides, and bring them to their own land; |
37:22 and I will make them one nation in the land, upon 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. |
37:23 They shall not defile themselves any more 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. |
37:24 "My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes. |
37:25 They shall dwell in the land where your fathers dwelt that I gave to my servant Jacob; they and their children and their children's children shall dwell there for ever; and David my servant shall be their prince for ever. |
37:26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. |
37:27 My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. |
37:28 Then the nations will know that I the LORD sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is in the midst of them |