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Ezekiel 37
New English Translation

The Valley of Dry Bones

37 The hand[a] of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and placed[b] me in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones. 2 He made me walk all around among them.[c] I realized[d] there were a great many bones in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said to him, “Sovereign Lord, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and tell them: ‘Dry bones, listen to the Lord’s message. 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: Look, I am about to infuse breath[e] into you and you will live. 6 I will put tendons[f] on you and muscles over you and will cover you with skin; I will put breath[g] in you, and you will live. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. There was a sound when I prophesied— I heard[h] a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 As I watched, I saw[i] tendons on them, then muscles appeared,[j] and skin covered over them from above, but there was no breath[k] in them.

9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath,[l]—prophesy, son of man—and say to the breath: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these corpses so that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as I was commanded, and the breath came into them; they lived and stood on their feet, an extremely great army.

11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope has perished; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to open your graves and will raise you from your graves, my people. I will bring you to the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. 14 I will place my breath[m] in you and you will live; I will give you rest in your own land. Then you will know that I am the Lord—I have spoken and I will act, declares the Lord.’”

15 The Lord’s message came to me: 16 “As for you, son of man, take one branch and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another branch and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the branch of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ 17 Join[n] them as one stick;[o] they will be as one in your hand. 18 When your people[p] say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what these things mean?’ 19 tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the branch of Joseph that is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will place them on the stick of Judah[q] and make them into one stick—they will be one in my hand.’[r] 20 The sticks you write on will be in your hand in front of them. 21 Then tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from round about and bring them to their land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all. They will never again be two nations and never again be divided into two kingdoms.[s] 23 They will not defile themselves with their idols, their detestable things, and all their rebellious deeds. I will save them from all their unfaithfulness[t] by which they sinned. I will purify them; they will become my people, and I will become their God.

24 “‘My servant David will be king over them; there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow[u] my regulations and carefully observe my statutes.[v] 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your fathers lived; they will live in it—they and their children and their grandchildren forever. David my servant will be prince over them forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be a perpetual covenant with them.[w] I will establish them,[x] increase their numbers, and place my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 Then, when my sanctuary is among them forever, the nations will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel.’”[y]

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 37:1 tn Or “power.” sn Hand in the OT can refer metaphorically to power, authority, or influence. In Ezekiel God’s hand being on the prophet is regularly associated with communication or a vision from God (3:14, 22; 8:1; 37:1; 40:1).
  2. Ezekiel 37:1 tn Heb “caused me to rest.”
  3. Ezekiel 37:2 tn Heb “and he made me pass over them, around, around.”
  4. Ezekiel 37:2 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and is here translated as “I realized” because it results from Ezekiel’s recognition of the situation around him. In Hebrew, the exclamation is repeated in the following sentence.
  5. Ezekiel 37:5 tn Heb “I am about to bring a spirit.”
  6. Ezekiel 37:6 tn The exact anatomical referent of the term is uncertain. In addition to v. 8, the term occurs only in Gen 32:32 (32:33 Heb); Job 10:11; 40:17; Is 48:4.
  7. Ezekiel 37:6 tn Or “a spirit.”
  8. Ezekiel 37:7 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
  9. Ezekiel 37:8 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
  10. Ezekiel 37:8 tn Heb “came up.”
  11. Ezekiel 37:8 tn Or “spirit.”
  12. Ezekiel 37:9 tn Or “spirit,” and several times in this verse.
  13. Ezekiel 37:14 tn Or “spirit.” This is likely an allusion to Gen 2 and God’s breath that creates life.
  14. Ezekiel 37:17 tn Heb “bring near.”
  15. Ezekiel 37:17 tn Heb “one to one for you for one stick.”
  16. Ezekiel 37:18 tn Heb “the sons of your people.”
  17. Ezekiel 37:19 tn Heb “I will place them on it, that is, on the stick of Judah.”
  18. Ezekiel 37:19 sn The reunification of Israel and Judah is envisioned as well in Ezek 33:23, 29; Jer 3:18; 23:5-6; Hos 1:11; Amos 9:11.
  19. Ezekiel 37:22 sn Jeremiah also attested to the reuniting of the northern and southern kingdoms (Jer 3:12, 14; 31:2-6).
  20. Ezekiel 37:23 tc Heb “their dwellings.” The text as it stands does not make sense. Based on the LXX, a slight emendation of two vowels, including a mater lectionis, yields the reading “from their turning,” a reference here to their turning from God and deviating from his commandments. See BDB 1000 s.v. מְשׁוּבָה, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:407.
  21. Ezekiel 37:24 tn Heb “walk [in].”
  22. Ezekiel 37:24 tn Heb “and my statutes they will guard and they will do them.”
  23. Ezekiel 37:26 sn See Isa 24:5; 55:3; 61:8; Jer 32:40; 50:5; Ezek 16:60 for other references to perpetual covenants.
  24. Ezekiel 37:26 tn Heb “give them.”
  25. Ezekiel 37:28 sn The sanctuary of Israel becomes the main focus of Ezek 40-48.
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Ezekiel 37
Common English Bible

Valley of dry bones

37 The Lord’s power overcame me, and while I was in the Lord’s spirit, he led me out and set me down in the middle of a certain valley. It was full of bones. 2 He led me through them all around, and I saw that there were a great many of them on the valley floor, and they were very dry.

3 He asked me, “Human one, can these bones live again?”

I said, “Lord God, only you know.”

4 He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, Dry bones, hear the Lord’s word! 5 The Lord God proclaims to these bones: I am about to put breath in you, and you will live again. 6 I will put sinews on you, place flesh on you, and cover you with skin. When I put breath in you, and you come to life, you will know that I am the Lord.”

7 I prophesied just as I was commanded. There was a great noise as I was prophesying, then a great quaking, and the bones came together, bone by bone. 8 When I looked, suddenly there were sinews on them. The flesh appeared, and then they were covered over with skin. But there was still no breath in them.

9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, human one! Say to the breath, The Lord God proclaims: Come from the four winds, breath! Breathe into these dead bodies and let them live.”

10 I prophesied just as he commanded me. When the breath entered them, they came to life and stood on their feet, an extraordinarily large company.

11 He said to me, “Human one, these bones are the entire house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished. We are completely finished.’ 12 So now, prophesy and say to them, The Lord God proclaims: I’m opening your graves! I will raise you up from your graves, my people, and I will bring you to Israel’s fertile land. 13 You will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you up from your graves, my people. 14 I will put my breath[a] in you, and you will live. I will plant you on your fertile land, and you will know that I am the Lord. I’ve spoken, and I will do it. This is what the Lord says.”

Divided kingdom united

15 The Lord’s word came to me: 16 You, human one, take a stick, and write on it, “Belonging to Judah and to the Israelites associated with him.” Take another stick and write on it, “Stick of Ephraim belonging to Joseph and everyone of the house of Israel associated with him.” 17 Join them to each other to make a single stick so that they become one stick in your hand. 18 When your people ask you, “Why won’t you tell us what these sticks mean to you?” 19 say to them, The Lord God proclaims: I’m taking Joseph’s stick, which has been in Ephraim’s hand, and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I’m putting it with Judah’s stick, and I’m making them into a single stick so that they will be one stick in my hand. 20 When the two sticks that you’ve written on are in your hand in their sight, 21 speak to them, This is what the Lord God says: I will take the Israelites from among the nations where they’ve gone, I will gather them from all around, and I will bring them to their fertile land. 22 I will make them into a single nation in the land on Israel’s highlands. There will be just one king for all of them. They will no longer be two nations, and they will no longer be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols or their worthless things or with any of their rebellions. I will deliver them from all the places where they sinned, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God. 24 My servant David will be king over them. There will be just one shepherd for all of them. They will follow my case laws and carefully observe my regulations. 25 They will live on the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where their ancestors lived. They will live on it, they and their children and their grandchildren, forever. My servant David will be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace for them. It will be their covenant forever. I will grant it to them and allow them to increase. I will set my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling will be with them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 The nations will know that I, the Lord, make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 37:14 Or spirit
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