The Valley of Dry Bones

37 The hand of the Lord was on me,^(A) and he brought me out by the Spirit^(B) of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley;^(C) it was full of bones.^{(D) 2} He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. ³ He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.^(E)”

⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!^{(F) 5} This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath^[a] enter you, and you will come to life.^{(G) 6} I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.^(H)’”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath;^(I) prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds^(J) and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded^(K) me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.^(L)

¹¹ Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’^{(M) 12} Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.^{(N) 13} Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord,^(O) when I open your graves and bring you up from them.^{(P) 14} I will put my Spirit^(Q) in you and you will live, and I will settle^(R) you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.^(S)’”

¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork,^(A) created^(B) in Christ Jesus to do good works,^(C) which God prepared in advance for us to do.

The River From the Temple

47 The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water^(A) coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.^{(B) 2} He then brought me out through the north gate^(C) and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side.

³ As the man went eastward with a measuring line^(D) in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits^[a] and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. ⁴ He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. ⁵ He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river^(E) that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross.^{(F) 6} He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?”

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. ⁷ When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river.^{(G) 8} He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah,^[b](H) where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh.^(I)

¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others,^(A) that they may see your good deeds^(B) and glorify^(C) your Father in heaven.

Eden Restored

22 Then the angel showed me the river^(A) of the water of life,^(B) as clear as crystal,^(C) flowing^(D) from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life,^(E) bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.^(F)

The Year of the Lord’s Favor