Ezekiel 37
English Standard Version
The Valley of Dry Bones
37 (A)The hand of the Lord was upon me, and (B)he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley;[a] it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, (C)“Son of man, (D)can these bones live?” And (E)I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, (F)“Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, (G)O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause (H)breath[b] to enter you, and you shall live. 6 (I)And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and (J)cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, (K)and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
7 So I prophesied (L)as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, (M)a rattling,[c] and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But (N)there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, (O)“Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, (P)son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from (Q)the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied (R)as he commanded me, and (S)the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
11 Then he said to me, (T)“Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and (U)our hope is lost; (V)we are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore (W)prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, (X)I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And (Y)I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And (Z)you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And (AA)I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; (AB)I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”
I Will Be Their God; They Shall Be My People
15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 (AC)“Son of man, (AD)take a stick[d] and write on it, ‘For (AE)Judah, and (AF)the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For (AG)Joseph (the stick of (AH)Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ 17 And (AI)join them one to another into one stick, that (AJ)they may become (AK)one in your hand. 18 And when (AL)your people say to you, (AM)‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’ 19 say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am about to take (AN)the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the (AO)stick of Judah,[e] and (AP)make them one stick, (AQ)that they may be one in my hand. 20 When the sticks on which you write are in your hand (AR)before their eyes, 21 then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, (AS)I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and (AT)bring them to their own land. 22 And (AU)I will make them one nation in the land, on (AV)the mountains of Israel. And (AW)one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer (AX)two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. 23 (AY)They shall not (AZ)defile themselves anymore (BA)with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But (BB)I will save them from all the backslidings[f] in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and (BC)they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
24 “My servant (BD)David (BE)shall be king over them, and they shall all have (BF)one shepherd. (BG)They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. 25 (BH)They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there (BI)forever, and David my servant shall be their prince (BJ)forever. 26 (BK)I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be (BL)an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land[g] and (BM)multiply them, and will (BN)set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 (BO)My dwelling place shall be with them, (BP)and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Then (BQ)the nations will know that (BR)I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when (BS)my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 37:1 Or plain; also verse 2
- Ezekiel 37:5 Or spirit; also verses 6, 9, 10
- Ezekiel 37:7 Or an earthquake (compare 3:12, 13)
- Ezekiel 37:16 Or one piece of wood; also verses 17, 19, 20
- Ezekiel 37:19 Hebrew And I will place them on it, the stick of Judah
- Ezekiel 37:23 Many Hebrew manuscripts; other Hebrew manuscripts dwellings
- Ezekiel 37:26 Hebrew lacks in their land
Ezekiel 37
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Valley of Dry Bones
37 The hand of the Lord was on me,(A) and He brought me out by His Spirit(B) and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them. There were a great many of them on the surface of the valley, and they were very dry. 3 Then He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I replied, “Lord God, only You know.”(C)
4 He said to me, “Prophesy concerning 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 will cause breath to enter you, and you will live.(D) 6 I will put tendons on you, make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you so that you come to life. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”(E)
7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 As I looked, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath,[a] prophesy, son of man. Say to it: This is what the Lord God says: Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that they may live!”(F) 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me; the breath[b] entered them,(G) and they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army.
11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.(H) Look how they say, ‘Our bones are dried up,(I) and our hope has perished;(J) we are cut off.’(K) 12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them: This is what the Lord God says: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them,(L) My people, and lead you into the land of Israel. 13 You will know that I am Yahweh, My people, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.(M) 14 I will put My Spirit in you,(N) and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. I have spoken, and I will do it.”(O) This is the declaration of the Lord.
The Reunification of Israel
15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, take a single stick and write on it:(P) Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him. Then take another stick and write on it: Belonging to Joseph—the stick of Ephraim—and all the house of Israel associated with him.(Q) 17 Then join them together into a single stick so that they become one in your hand.(R) 18 When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you explain to us what you mean by these things?’(S)— 19 tell them: This is what the Lord God says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and put them together with the stick of Judah. I will make them into a single stick so that they become one in My hand.
20 “When the sticks you have written on are in your hand and in full view of the people,(T) 21 tell them: This is what the Lord God says: I am going to take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone.(U) I will gather them from all around and bring them into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land,(V) on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over all of them.(W) They will no longer be two nations and will no longer be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will not defile themselves anymore with their idols,(X) their detestable things, and all their transgressions.(Y) I will save them from all their apostasies by which[c] they sinned,(Z) and I will cleanse them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.(AA) 24 My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them.(AB) They will follow My ordinances, and keep My statutes and obey them.(AC)
25 “They will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob,(AD) where your fathers lived. They will live in it forever with their children and grandchildren, and My servant David will be their prince forever.(AE) 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them;(AF) it will be an everlasting covenant(AG) with them. I will establish and multiply them and will set My sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling place will be with them;(AH) I will be their God, and they will be My people.(AI) 28 When My sanctuary is among them forever, the nations will know that I, Yahweh, sanctify Israel.”(AJ)
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 37:9 Or wind, or spirit
- Ezekiel 37:10 Or wind, or spirit
- Ezekiel 37:23 Some Hb mss, LXX, Sym; other Hb mss read their settlements where
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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