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.’ ”

One Kingdom, One King

¹⁵ Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁶ “As for you, son of man, ^(M)take a stick for yourself and write on it: ‘For Judah and for ^(N)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 ^(O)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, ^(P)‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’— ^19 (Q)say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take ^(R)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 ^(S)before their eyes.

²¹ “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely ^(T)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 ^(U)I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and ^(V)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 (W)They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but ^(X)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 (Y)“David My servant shall be king over them, and ^(Z)they shall all have one shepherd; ^(AA)they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. ^25 (AB)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, ^(AC)forever; and ^(AD)My servant David shall be their prince forever. ²⁶ Moreover I will ^[c]make ^(AE)a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and ^(AF)multiply them, and I will set My ^(AG)sanctuary in their midst forevermore. ^27 (AH)My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be ^(AI)their God, and they shall be My people. ^28 (AJ)The nations also will know that I, the Lord, ^(AK)sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” ’ ”

The Healing Waters and Trees

47 Then he brought me back to the door of the ^[a]temple; and there was ^(A)water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. ² He brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gateway that faces ^(B)east; and there was water, running out on the right side.

³ And when ^(C)the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my ankles. ⁴ Again he measured one thousand and brought me through the waters; the water came up to my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through; the water came up to my waist. ⁵ Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. ⁶ He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river.

⁷ When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many ^(D)trees on one side and the other. ⁸ Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the ^[b]valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. ⁹ And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever ^[c]the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes. ¹⁰ It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish ^(E)of the Great Sea, exceedingly many. ¹¹ But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt. ^12 (F)Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; ^(G)their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for ^(H)medicine.”^[d]

Borders of the Land^(I)

¹³ Thus says the Lord God: “These are the ^(J)borders by which you shall divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. ^(K)Joseph shall have two portions. ¹⁴ You shall inherit it equally with one another; for I ^(L)raised My hand in an oath to give it to your fathers, and this land shall ^(M)fall to you as your inheritance.

¹⁵ “This shall be the border of the land on the north: from the Great Sea, by ^(N)the road to Hethlon, as one goes to ^(O)Zedad, ^16 (P)Hamath, ^(Q)Berothah, Sibraim (which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath), to Hazar Hatticon (which is on the border of Hauran). ¹⁷ Thus the boundary shall be from the Sea to ^(R)Hazar Enan, the border of Damascus; and as for the north, northward, it is the border of Hamath. This is the north side.

¹⁸ “On the east side you shall mark out the border from between Hauran and Damascus, and between Gilead and the land of Israel, along the Jordan, and along the eastern side of the sea. This is the east side.

¹⁹ “The south side, toward the ^[e]South, shall be from Tamar to ^(S)the waters of ^[f]Meribah by Kadesh, along the brook to the Great Sea. This is the south side, toward the South.

²⁰ “The west side shall be the Great Sea, from the southern boundary until one comes to a point opposite Hamath. This is the west side.

²¹ “Thus you shall ^(T)divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. ²² It shall be that you will divide it by ^(U)lot as an inheritance for yourselves, ^(V)and for the strangers who dwell among you and who bear children among you. ^(W)They shall be to you as native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. ²³ And it shall be that in whatever tribe the stranger dwells, there you shall give him his inheritance,” says the Lord God.