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.’ ”

Various Exhortations

¹² And we urge you, brethren, ^(A)to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and ^[a]admonish you, ¹³ and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. ^(B)Be at peace among yourselves.

¹⁴ Now we ^[b]exhort you, brethren, ^(C)warn those who are ^[c]unruly, ^(D)comfort the fainthearted, ^(E)uphold the weak, ^(F)be patient with all. ^15 (G)See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always ^(H)pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.

^16 (I)Rejoice always, ^17 (J)pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

^19 (K)Do not quench the Spirit. ^20 (L)Do not despise prophecies. ^21 (M)Test all things; ^(N)hold fast what is good. ²² Abstain from every form of evil.

Blessing and Admonition

²³ Now may ^(O)the God of peace Himself ^(P)sanctify^[d] you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body ^(Q)be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ He who calls you is ^(R)faithful, who also will ^(S)do it.

²⁵ Brethren, pray for us.

²⁶ Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss.

²⁷ I charge you by the Lord that this ^[e]epistle be read to all the ^[f]holy brethren.

²⁸ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

One Kingdom, One King

¹⁵ Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁶ “As for you, son of man, ^(A)take a stick for yourself and write on it: ‘For Judah and for ^(B)the children of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.’ ¹⁷ Then ^(C)join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand.

¹⁸ “And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, ^(D)‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’— ^19 (E)say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take ^(F)the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.” ’ ²⁰ And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand ^(G)before their eyes.

²¹ “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely ^(H)I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; ²² and ^(I)I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and ^(J)one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. ^23 (K)They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but ^(L)I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

^24 (M)“David My servant shall be king over them, and ^(N)they shall all have one shepherd; ^(O)they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. ^25 (P)Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, ^(Q)forever; and ^(R)My servant David shall be their prince forever. ²⁶ Moreover I will ^[a]make ^(S)a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and ^(T)multiply them, and I will set My ^(U)sanctuary in their midst forevermore. ^27 (V)My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be ^(W)their God, and they shall be My people. ^28 (X)The nations also will know that I, the Lord, ^(Y)sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” ’ ”

Do Not Neglect Salvation

2 Therefore we must give ^[a]the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. ² For if the word ^(A)spoken through angels proved steadfast, and ^(B)every transgression and disobedience received a just ^[b]reward, ^3 (C)how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, ^(D)which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was ^(E)confirmed to us by those who heard Him, ^4 (F)God also bearing witness ^(G)both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and ^(H)gifts^[c] of the Holy Spirit, ^(I)according to His own will?

The Son Made Lower than Angels^(J)

⁵ For He has not put ^(K)the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. ⁶ But one testified in a certain place, saying:

For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now ^(N)we do not yet see all things put under him. ⁹ But we see Jesus, ^(O)who was made ^[f]a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death ^(P)crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death ^(Q)for everyone.

Bringing Many Sons to Glory

¹⁰ For it was fitting for Him, ^(R)for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation ^(S)perfect through sufferings. ¹¹ For ^(T)both He who ^[g]sanctifies and those who are being sanctified ^(U)are all of one, for which reason ^(V)He is not ashamed to call them brethren, ¹² saying:

¹³ And again:

And again:

¹⁴ Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He ^(Z)Himself likewise shared in the same, ^(AA)that through death He might destroy him who had the power of ^(AB)death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and release those who ^(AC)through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. ¹⁶ For indeed He does not ^[h]give aid to angels, but He does ^[i]give aid to the seed of Abraham. ¹⁷ Therefore, in all things He had ^(AD)to be made like His brethren, that He might be ^(AE)a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ^18 (AF)For in that He Himself has suffered, being ^[j]tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.