The Dry Bones Live

37 The ^(A)hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out ^(B)in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. ² Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. ³ And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

So I answered, “O Lord God, ^(C)You know.”

⁴ Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ⁵ Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will ^(D)cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. ⁶ I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. ^(E)Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.

⁹ Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the ^[a]breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: ^(F)“Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as He commanded me, ^(G)and ^[b]breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.

¹¹ Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the ^(H)whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ^(I)‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, ^(J)O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and ^(K)bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. ¹⁴ I ^(L)will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’ ”

Israel’s Rejection Not Total

11 I say then, ^(A)has God cast away His people? ^(B)Certainly not! For ^(C)I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. ² God has not cast away His people whom ^(D)He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, ^3 (E)“Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”? ⁴ But what does the divine response say to him? ^(F)“I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” ^5 (G)Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. ⁶ And ^(H)if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. ^[a]But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

⁷ What then? ^(I)Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were ^(J)blinded. ⁸ Just as it is written:

⁹ And David says:

Israel’s Rejection Not Final

¹¹ I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But ^(N)through their ^[b]fall, to provoke them to ^(O)jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. ¹² Now if their ^[c]fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!

¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as ^(P)I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, ¹⁴ if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and ^(Q)save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be ^(R)but life from the dead?

¹⁶ For if ^(S)the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. ¹⁷ And if ^(T)some of the branches were broken off, ^(U)and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and ^[d]fatness of the olive tree, ^18 (V)do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

¹⁹ You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” ²⁰ Well said. Because of ^(W)unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. ²² Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, ^[e]goodness, ^(X)if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise ^(Y)you also will be cut off. ²³ And they also, ^(Z)if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

²⁵ For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be ^(AA)wise in your own ^[f]opinion, that ^(AB)blindness in part has happened to Israel ^(AC)until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And so all Israel will be ^[g]saved, as it is written:

²⁸ Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are ^(AF)beloved for the sake of the fathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are ^(AG)irrevocable. ³⁰ For as you ^(AH)were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, ³¹ even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. ³² For God has ^[h]committed them ^(AI)all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.

³³ Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

³⁶ For ^(AM)of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, ^(AN)to whom be glory forever. Amen.