Ezekiel 37:1-14
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Valley of Dry Bones
37 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.(A) 2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”(B) 4 Then 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: I will cause breath[a] to enter you, and you shall live.(C) 6 I will lay sinews on you and will cause flesh to come upon you and cover you with skin and put breath[b] in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”(D)
7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded, and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath:[c] Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath,[d] and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”(E) 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.(F)
11 Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’(G) 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people, and I will bring you back to the land of Israel.(H) 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people.(I) 14 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”(J)
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1 Corinthians 12:1-13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Spiritual Gifts
12 Now concerning spiritual gifts,[a] brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be ignorant.(A) 2 You know that when you were gentiles you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak.(B) 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.(C)
4 Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit,(D) 5 and there are varieties of services but the same Lord,(E) 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.(F) 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,(G) 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,(H) 10 to another the working of powerful deeds, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.(I) 11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.(J)
One Body with Many Members
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.(K) 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.(L)
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- 12.1 Or spiritual persons
Wisdom of Solomon 7:15-8:1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Prayer for Wisdom
15 May God grant me to speak with judgment
and to have thoughts worthy of what I have received,
for he is the guide even of wisdom
and the corrector of the wise.(A)
16 For both we and our words are in his hand,
as are all understanding and skill in crafts.(B)
17 For it is he who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists,
to know the structure of the world and the activity of the elements,(C)
18 the beginning and end and middle of times,
the alternations of the solstices and the changes of the seasons,
19 the cycles of the year and the constellations of the stars,(D)
20 the natures of animals and the tempers of wild animals,
the powers of spirits[a] and the thoughts of human beings,
the varieties of plants and the virtues of roots;(E)
21 I learned both what is secret and what is manifest,
22 for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me.
The Nature of Wisdom
There is in her a spirit that is intelligent, holy,
unique, manifold, subtle,
agile, clear, unpolluted,
distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen,
23 irresistible, beneficent, humane,
steadfast, sure, free from anxiety,
all-powerful, overseeing all,
and penetrating through all spirits
that are intelligent, pure, and altogether subtle.(F)
24 For wisdom is more mobile than any motion;
because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things.(G)
25 For she is a breath of the power of God
and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty;
therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her.(H)
26 For she is a reflection of eternal light,
a spotless mirror of the working of God,
and an image of his goodness.(I)
27 Although she is but one, she can do all things,
and while remaining in herself, she renews all things;
in every generation she passes into holy souls
and makes them friends of God and prophets,(J)
28 for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom.
29 She is more beautiful than the sun
and excels every constellation of the stars.
Compared with the light she is found to be more radiant,(K)
30 for it is succeeded by the night,
but against wisdom evil does not prevail.
8 She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other,
and she orders all things well.(L)
Footnotes
- 7.20 Or winds
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.