Ezekiel 37
New Living Translation
A Valley of Dry Bones
37 The Lord took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. 2 He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. 3 Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?”
“O Sovereign Lord,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.”
4 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! 6 I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
7 So I spoke this message, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. 8 Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of man. Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’”
10 So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army.
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.’ 12 Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the Lord. 14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the Lord has spoken!’”
Reunion of Israel and Judah
15 Again a message came to me from the Lord: 16 “Son of man, take a piece of wood and carve on it these words: ‘This represents Judah and its allied tribes.’ Then take another piece and carve these words on it: ‘This represents Ephraim and the northern tribes of Israel.’[a] 17 Now hold them together in your hand as if they were one piece of wood. 18 When your people ask you what your actions mean, 19 say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take Ephraim and the northern tribes and join them to Judah. I will make them one piece of wood in my hand.’
20 “Then hold out the pieces of wood you have inscribed, so the people can see them. 21 And give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: I will gather the people of Israel from among the nations. I will bring them home to their own land from the places where they have been scattered. 22 I will unify them into one nation on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule them all; no longer will they be divided into two nations or into two kingdoms. 23 They will never again pollute themselves with their idols[b] and vile images and rebellion, for I will save them from their sinful apostasy.[c] I will cleanse them. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.
24 “My servant David will be their king, and they will have only one shepherd. They will obey my regulations and be careful to keep my decrees. 25 They will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren after them will live there forever, generation after generation. And my servant David will be their prince forever. 26 And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give them their land and increase their numbers,[d] and I will put my Temple among them forever. 27 I will make my home among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 And when my Temple is among them forever, the nations will know that I am the Lord, who makes Israel holy.”
Footnotes
- 37:16 Hebrew This is Ephraim’s wood, representing Joseph and all the house of Israel; similarly in 37:19.
- 37:23a The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung.
- 37:23b As in many Hebrew manuscripts and Greek version; Masoretic Text reads from all their dwelling places where they sinned.
- 37:26 Hebrew reads I will give them and increase their numbers; Greek version lacks the entire phrase.
Ezekiel 37
Lexham English Bible
A Valley of Dried Bones; A Renewed Nation of Israel
37 The hand of Yahweh was upon me, and he brought me by the Spirit of Yahweh, and he let me rest[a] in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones. 2 And he led me all around[b] over them, and look, very many on the surface of the valley, and look, very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man,[c] can these bones live?” And I said, “Lord Yahweh, you know.” 4 And he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and you must say to them, to the dry bones, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh! 5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: “Look! I am bringing into you breath, and you will live! 6 And I will lay on you sinews, and I will let flesh come upon you, and I will cover you over with skin, and I will put breath into you, and you will live, and you will know that I am Yahweh.”’”
7 And I prophesied just as[d] I had been commanded, and there was a sound at my prophesying, and look! A rattling, and they came together—the bones! Bone to its bone! 8 And I looked, and indeed, sinews were on them, and flesh went up,[e] and skin covered over[f] them upward,[g] but breath was not in them. 9 And he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man,[h] and you must say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh from the four winds,[i] “Come, O spirit and breath, on these dead ones, so that they may live!”’” 10 And I prophesied as[j] he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they became alive, and they stood on their feet, a very, very large group.
11 And he said to me, “Son of man,[k] these bones are all of the house of Israel; look! they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is destroyed; we are cut off as far as we are concerned.’[l] 12 Therefore prophesy, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am opening your graves, and I will bring you up from your graves, my people, and I will bring you to the land of Israel! 13 And you will know that I am Yahweh when I open your graves when I bring you up from your graves, my people! 14 And I will put my breath into you so that you may live, and I will cause you to rest on your soil, and you will know that I, Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will act!”’ declares[m] Yahweh.”
15 And the word of Yahweh came[n] to me, saying,[o] 16 “And you, son of man,[p] take for yourself a piece of wood,[q] and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the Israelites[r] his associates,’ and take another piece of wood, and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the piece of wood of[s] Ephraim and all of the house of Israel his associates.’ 17 And join them one to the other with respect to you as one piece of wood, so that they may become one in your hand. 18 When[t] your people[u] say to you, saying,[v] ‘Will you not inform us as to what these actions mean for you?’ 19 Then speak to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am taking the piece of wood for Joseph that is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel its associates, and I will put them on it, the piece of wood of Judah, and I will make them into one piece of wood, so that they be one in my hand.’” 20 And the pieces of wood on which you wrote will be in your hand before their eyes. 21 And speak to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am taking the Israelites[w] from among the nations to which they went,[x] and I will gather them from everywhere,[y] and I will bring them to their own soil. 22 And I will make them into one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and they will all have one king as their king,[z] and they[aa] will not again be two nations and will not again divide into two kingdoms again. 23 And they will not defile themselves again with their idols and with vile idols and with all of their transgressions, and I will save them from all of their apostasy by which they sinned,[ab] and I will cleanse them and they will be for me as a people and I, I will be for them as God.
24 “‘“And my servant David will be king over them, and one shepherd will be for all of them, and in my regulations they will go, and my statutes they will observe, and they will do them. 25 And they will dwell on the land that I gave to my servant, to Jacob, in which your ancestors dwelled,[ac] and they will dwell on it, they and their children and the children of their children forever,[ad] and my servant David will be a leader for them forever.[ae] 26 And I will make with them a covenant of peace; an everlasting covenant[af] it will be with them. And I will establish them, and I will cause them to increase, and I will put my sanctuary in the midst of them forever.[ag] 27 And my tabernacle will be with them, and I will be for them as God, and they will be to me as a nation. 28 And the nations will know that I, Yahweh, am consecrating Israel when my sanctuary is in the midst of them forever.”’”[ah]
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 37:1 Or “placed me”; literally “set me”
- Ezekiel 37:2 Literally “all around, all around”
- Ezekiel 37:3 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 37:7 Literally “as that”
- Ezekiel 37:8 Or “appeared”
- Ezekiel 37:8 Or “on”
- Ezekiel 37:8 Literally “from to above”
- Ezekiel 37:9 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 37:9 Literally “from four winds”
- Ezekiel 37:10 Literally “like what”
- Ezekiel 37:11 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 37:11 Literally “we are cut in two for us”
- Ezekiel 37:14 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 37:15 Literally “was”
- Ezekiel 37:15 Literally “to say”
- Ezekiel 37:16 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 37:16 Literally “a piece of wood one”
- Ezekiel 37:16 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Ezekiel 37:16 Or “for”
- Ezekiel 37:18 Literally “as that”
- Ezekiel 37:18 Literally “the children of your people”
- Ezekiel 37:18 Literally “to say”
- Ezekiel 37:21 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Ezekiel 37:21 Literally “which they went there”
- Ezekiel 37:21 Literally “all around”
- Ezekiel 37:22 Literally “and king one he will be for all of them to king”
- Ezekiel 37:22 According to the reading tradition (Qere)
- Ezekiel 37:23 Or “which they sinned by them”
- Ezekiel 37:25 Literally “which they dwelt in it your fathers”
- Ezekiel 37:25 Literally “until eternity” or “until unlimited time”
- Ezekiel 37:25 Literally “to eternity” or “to endless ages”
- Ezekiel 37:26 Literally “a covenant of eternity”
- Ezekiel 37:26 Literally “to eternity” or “to unlimited ages”
- Ezekiel 37:28 Literally “to eternity” or “to unlimited ages”
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