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
- 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).
- Ezekiel 37:1 tn Heb “caused me to rest.”
- Ezekiel 37:2 tn Heb “and he made me pass over them, around, around.”
- 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.
- Ezekiel 37:5 tn Heb “I am about to bring a spirit.”
- 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.
- Ezekiel 37:6 tn Or “a spirit.”
- Ezekiel 37:7 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
- Ezekiel 37:8 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
- Ezekiel 37:8 tn Heb “came up.”
- Ezekiel 37:8 tn Or “spirit.”
- Ezekiel 37:9 tn Or “spirit,” and several times in this verse.
- Ezekiel 37:14 tn Or “spirit.” This is likely an allusion to Gen 2 and God’s breath that creates life.
- Ezekiel 37:17 tn Heb “bring near.”
- Ezekiel 37:17 tn Heb “one to one for you for one stick.”
- Ezekiel 37:18 tn Heb “the sons of your people.”
- Ezekiel 37:19 tn Heb “I will place them on it, that is, on the stick of Judah.”
- 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.
- Ezekiel 37:22 sn Jeremiah also attested to the reuniting of the northern and southern kingdoms (Jer 3:12, 14; 31:2-6).
- 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.
- Ezekiel 37:24 tn Heb “walk [in].”
- Ezekiel 37:24 tn Heb “and my statutes they will guard and they will do them.”
- 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.
- Ezekiel 37:26 tn Heb “give them.”
- Ezekiel 37:28 sn The sanctuary of Israel becomes the main focus of Ezek 40-48.
Ezekiel 37
World English Bible
37 Yahweh’s hand was on me, and he brought me out in Yahweh’s Spirit, and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 He caused me to pass by them all around: and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and behold, they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I answered, “Lord Yahweh, you know.”
4 Again he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, ‘You dry bones, hear Yahweh’s word. 5 The Lord Yahweh says to these bones: “Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you will live. 6 I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you will live. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. As I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, there was an earthquake. Then the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I saw, and, behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’”
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost. We are completely cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 You will know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people. 14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live. Then I will place you in your own land; and you will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it and performed it,” says Yahweh.’”
15 Yahweh’s word came again to me, saying, 16 “You, son of man, take one stick, and write on it, ‘For Judah, and for 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 join them for yourself to one another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.
18 “When the children of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Won’t you show us what you mean by these?’ 19 tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in my hand. 20 The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.”’ 21 Say to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, where they have gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. One king will be king to them all. They will no longer be two nations. They won’t be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. 23 They won’t defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. So they will be my people, and I will be their God.
24 “‘“My servant David will be king over them. They all will have one shepherd. They will also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them. 25 They will dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived. They will dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children’s children, forever. David my servant will be their prince forever. 26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them. It will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will place them, multiply them, and will set my sanctuary among them forever more. 27 My tent also will be with them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 The nations will know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is among them forever more.”’”
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