Ezekiel 37
Evangelical Heritage Version
Resurrection of the Dry Bones
37 The hand of the Lord was upon me. He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley, which was full of bones. 2 He had me pass through them and go all over among them. There were very many on the valley floor, and they were very dry.
3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these dry bones live?”[a] I answered, “Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’”
5 This is what the Lord God says to these bones.
I am about to make breath[b] enter you so that you will live. 6 I will attach tendons to you. I will put flesh back on you. I will cover you with skin and put breath in you, and you will live. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded, and as I was prophesying there was a noise, a rattling, as the bones came together, one bone connecting to another. 8 As I watched, tendons were attached to them, then flesh grew over them, and skin covered them. But there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the wind.[c] Prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind that this is what the Lord God says. From the four winds, come, O wind, and breathe into these slain so that they may live.”
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me. Breath entered them, and they came back to life. They stood on their feet, a very, very large army.
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up. Our hope is lost. We have been completely cut off.’ 12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them that this is what the Lord God says. My people, I am going to open your graves and raise you up from your graves and bring you back to the soil of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you up from your graves, O my people. 14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live. I will settle you on your own land, and you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.”
One People United Under the New David
15 The word of the Lord came to me.
16 Now you, son of man, take one piece of wood and write on it: “Belonging to Judah and belonging to the people of Israel associated with him.” Then take another piece of wood and write on it: “Belonging to Joseph, Ephraim’s piece of wood, and the whole house of Israel associated with him.” 17 Then hold one piece of wood close to the other to make a single board for yourself, so that they are one in your hand.
18 When your countrymen say to you, “Won’t you tell us what you mean by these things?” 19 you tell them, “This is what the Lord God says. I am going to take the piece of wood which is in the hand of Ephraim, which is for Joseph and for the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will attach it to the piece of wood for Judah. In this way I will make them one board, so that they will be one in my hand.” 20 The boards on which you will write should be in your hand in front of their eyes.
21 Then say this to them. This is what the Lord God says. I am going to take the people of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from all around, and I will bring them to their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will be king for all of them. Never again will they be two nations, and never again will they be divided into two kingdoms. 23 Never again will they defile themselves with their filthy idols, with their disgusting practices, and with all their rebellious actions. I will save them from all their backsliding by which they have sinned,[d] and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
24 My servant David will be King over them, and they will all have one Shepherd. They will follow my ordinances and be conscientious about keeping my statutes. 25 They will live on the land I gave my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They will live there permanently—they, their children, and their grandchildren—and my servant David will be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will establish them, and I will multiply them and set my sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 My Dwelling Place will be over them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I, the Lord, make Israel holy when my holy place is in their midst forever.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 37:3 Or come back to life
- Ezekiel 37:5 The Hebrew word for breath also means spirit.
- Ezekiel 37:9 The same Hebrew word means wind, breath, and spirit.
- Ezekiel 37:23 A Hebrew variant reads I will save them from all the dwellings in which they sinned.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.