Ezekiel 37-39

Contemporary English Version

Dry Bones Live Again

37 Some time later, I felt the Lord's power take control of me, and his Spirit carried me to a valley full of bones. ² The Lord showed me all around, and everywhere I looked I saw bones that were dried out. ³ He said, “Ezekiel, son of man, can these bones come back to life?”

I replied, “Lord God, only you can answer that.”

⁴ He then told me to say:

Dry bones, listen to what the Lord is saying to you, ⁵ “I, the Lord God, will put breath in you, and once again you will live. ⁶ I will wrap you with muscles and skin and breathe life into you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”

⁷ I did what the Lord said, but before I finished speaking, I heard a rattling noise. The bones were coming together! ⁸ I saw muscles and skin cover the bones, but they had no life in them.

⁹ The Lord said:

Ezekiel, now say to the wind,^[a] “The Lord God commands you to blow from every direction and to breathe life into these dead bodies, so they can live again.”

^10 (A) As soon as I said this, the wind blew among the bodies, and they came back to life! They all stood up, and there were enough to make a large army.

¹¹ The Lord said:

Ezekiel, the people of Israel are like dead bones. They complain that they are dried up and that they have no hope for the future. ¹² So tell them, “I, the Lord God, promise to open your graves and set you free. I will bring you back to Israel, ¹³ and when that happens, you will realize that I am the Lord. ¹⁴ My Spirit will give you breath, and you will live again. I will bring you home, and you will know that I have kept my promise. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Judah and Israel Together Again

¹⁵ The Lord said:

¹⁶ Ezekiel, son of man, get a stick and write on it, “The kingdom of Judah.” Then get another stick and write on it, “The kingdom of Israel.”^{[b] 17} Hold these two sticks end to end, so they look like one stick. ¹⁸ And when your people ask you what this means, ¹⁹ tell them that I, the Lord, will join together the stick of Israel and the stick of Judah. I will hold them in my hand, and they will become one.

²⁰ Hold these two sticks where they can be seen by everyone ²¹ and then say:

I, the Lord God, will gather the people of Israel and bring them home from the foreign nations where they now live. ²² I will make them into one nation and let them once again live in the land of Israel. Only one king will rule them, and they will never again be divided into two nations. ²³ They will no longer worship idols and do things that make them unacceptable to me. I will wash away their sin and make them clean, and I will protect them from everything that makes them unclean. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

^24-25 (B) Their king will always come from the family of my servant King David and will care for them like a shepherd. The people of Israel will faithfully obey my laws. They and their descendants will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, just as their ancestors did. ²⁶ I solemnly promise to bless the people of Israel with unending peace. I will protect them and let them become a powerful nation. My temple will stand in Israel for all time, ^27 (C) and I will live among my people and be their God. ²⁸ Every nation on earth will know that my temple is in Israel and that I have chosen the Israelites to be my people.

Gog Invades Israel

38 The Lord said:

^2 (D) Ezekiel, son of man, condemn Gog, that wicked ruler of the kingdoms of Meshech and Tubal in the land of Magog. Tell him:

³ I, the Lord God, am your enemy, ⁴ and I will make you powerless! I will put a hook in your jaw and drag away both you and your large army. You command cavalry troops that wear heavy armor and carry shields and swords. ⁵ Your army includes soldiers from Persia, Ethiopia,^[c] and Libya, ⁶ as well as from Gomer and Beth-Togarmah in the north. Your army is enormous!

⁷ So keep your troops prepared to fight, ⁸ because in a few years, I will command you to invade Israel, a country that was ruined by war. It was deserted for a long time, but its people have returned from the foreign nations where they once lived. The Israelites now live in peace in the mountains of their own land. ⁹ But you and your army will attack them like a fierce thunderstorm and surround them like a cloud.

¹⁰ When that day comes, I know that you will have an evil plan ¹¹ to take advantage of Israel, that weak and peaceful country where people live safely inside towns that have no walls or gates or locks. ¹² You will rob the people in towns that were once a pile of rubble. These people lived as prisoners in foreign nations, but they have returned to Israel, the most important place in the world, and they own livestock and property. ¹³ The people of Sheba and Dedan, along with merchants from villages in^[d] southern Spain,^[e] will be your allies. They will want some of the silver and gold, as well as the livestock and property that your army takes from Israel.

¹⁴ I, the Lord God, know that when you see^[f] my people Israel living in peace, ¹⁵ you will lead your powerful cavalry from your kingdom in the north. ¹⁶ You will attack my people like a storm-cloud that covers their land. I will let you invade my country Israel, so that every nation on earth will know that I, the Lord, am holy.

Judgment on Gog

¹⁷ The Lord said to Gog:

Long ago, I ordered my prophets to warn the people of Israel that someday I would send an enemy to attack them. You, Gog, are that enemy, and that day is coming. ¹⁸ When you invade Israel, I will become furious, ¹⁹ and in my anger I will send a terrible earthquake to shake Israel. ²⁰ Every living thing on earth will tremble in fear of me—every fish and bird, every wild animal and reptile, and every human. Mountains will crumble, cliffs will fall, and cities will collapse. ²¹ I, the Lord, will make the mountains of Israel turn against you.^[g] Your troops will be so terrified that they will attack each other. ²² I will strike you with diseases and punish you with death. You and your army will be pounded with rainstorms, hailstones, and burning sulfur. ²³ I will do these things to show the world that I, the Lord, am holy.

Gog Is Defeated

The Lord said:

39 Ezekiel, son of man, condemn Gog and tell him:

You are the ruler of Meshech and Tubal, but I, the Lord, am your enemy! ² I will turn you around and drag you from the north until you reach the mountains of Israel. ³ I will knock the bow out of your left hand and the arrows out of your right hand, ^4 (E) and you and your army will die on those mountains. Then birds and wild animals will eat the flesh ⁵ of your dead bodies left lying in open fields. I, the Lord, have spoken.

⁶ I will set fire to the land of Magog and to those nations along the seacoast that think they are so secure, and they will know that I am the Lord.

⁷ My people Israel will know me, and they will no longer disgrace my holy name. Everyone on earth will know that I am the holy Lord God of Israel. ⁸ The day is coming when these things will happen, just as I have promised.

⁹ When that day comes, the people in the towns of Israel will collect the weapons of their dead enemies. They will use these shields, bows and arrows, spears, and clubs as firewood, and there will be enough to last for seven years. ¹⁰ They will burn these weapons instead of gathering sticks or chopping down trees. That's how the Israelites will take revenge on those who robbed and abused them. I, the Lord, have spoken.

The Burial of Gog

The Lord said:

¹¹ After Gog has been destroyed, I will bury him and his army in Israel, in Travelers'^[h] Valley, east of the Dead Sea. That graveyard will be so large that it will block the way of anyone who tries to walk through the valley,^[i] which will then be known as “The Valley of Gog's Army.”^{[j] 12} The Israelites will spend seven months burying dead bodies and cleaning up their land. ¹³ Everyone will help with the burial, and they will be honored for this on the day the brightness of my glory is seen. ¹⁴ After those seven months, the people will appoint a group of men to look for any dead bodies left unburied. This must be done for seven months to make sure that the land is no longer unclean. ¹⁵ Whenever they find a human bone, they will set up a marker next to it. Then the gravediggers will bury it in “The Valley of Gog's Army” ¹⁶ near the town of “Gog's Army.” After that, the land will be pure again.

^17 (F) Ezekiel, son of man, I am going to hold a feast on Israel's mountains and offer sacrifices there. So invite all the birds and wild animals to come from every direction and eat the meat of sacrifices and drink the blood. The birds and animals ¹⁸ will feast on the bodies of warriors and foreign rulers that I will sacrifice like sheep, goats, and bulls. ¹⁹ I want the birds and animals to eat until they are full and drink until they are drunk. ²⁰ They will come to my table and stuff themselves with the flesh of horses and warriors of every kind. I, the Lord God, have spoken.

Israel Will Be Restored

The Lord said:

²¹ When I punish the nations of the earth, they will see the brightness of my glory. ²² The people of Israel will know from then on that I am the Lord their God. ²³ Foreign nations will realize that the Israelites were forced to leave their own land because they sinned against me. I turned my back on my people and let enemies attack and kill them. ²⁴ Their lives were wicked and corrupt, and they deserved to be punished.

²⁵ Now I will show mercy to the people of Israel and bring them back from the nations where they are living. They are Jacob's descendants, so I will bless them and show that I am holy. ²⁶ They will live safely in their own land, but will be ashamed when they remember their evil ways and how they disgraced me.^{[k] 27} Foreign nations will watch as I take the Israelites from enemy lands and bring them back home, and those nations will see that I am holy.

²⁸ My people will realize that I, the Lord their God, sent them away as prisoners and now will bring them back to their own land. ²⁹ Never again will I turn my back on the people of Israel, and my Spirit will live in them. I, the Lord, have spoken.