The Creation of the World

1 In the ^(A)beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was ^(B)without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

³ And God said, ^(C)“Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

⁶ And God said, ^(D)“Let there be an expanse^[a] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷ And God made^[b] the expanse and ^(E)separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were ^(F)above the expanse. And it was so. ⁸ And God called the expanse Heaven.^[c] And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

⁹ And God said, ^(G)“Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land Earth,^[d] and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

¹¹ And God said, ^(H)“Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants^[e] yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. ¹² The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for ^(I)signs and for ^(J)seasons,^[f] and for days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ And God ^(K)made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. ¹⁷ And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to ^(L)rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

²⁰ And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds^[g] fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” ²¹ So ^(M)God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² And God blessed them, saying, ^(N)“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

²⁴ And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. ²⁵ And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, ^(O)“Let us make man^[h] in our image, ^(P)after our likeness. And ^(Q)let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

²⁸ And God blessed them. And God said to them, ^(S)“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ²⁹ And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. ^(T)You shall have them for food. ³⁰ And ^(U)to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. ^31 (V)And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

The Seventh Day, God Rests

2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and ^(W)all the host of them. ² And ^(X)on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. ³ So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

The Creation of Man and Woman

⁵ When no ^(Z)bush of the field^[i] was yet in the land^[j] and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man ^(AA)to work the ground, ⁶ and a mist^[k] was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— ⁷ then the Lord God formed the man of ^(AB)dust from the ground and ^(AC)breathed into his ^(AD)nostrils the breath of life, and ^(AE)the man became a living creature. ⁸ And the Lord God planted a ^(AF)garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. ⁹ And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. ^(AG)The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, ^(AH)and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰ A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. ¹¹ The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of ^(AI)Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. ¹³ The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴ And the name of the third river is the ^(AJ)Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man ^(AK)and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ^(AL)you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat^[l] of it you ^(AM)shall surely die.”

¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; ^(AN)I will make him a helper fit for^[m] him.” ^19 (AO)Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed^[n] every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and ^(AP)brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam^[o] there was not found a helper fit for him. ²¹ So the Lord God caused a ^(AQ)deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. ²² And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made^[p] into a woman and brought her to the man. ²³ Then the man said,

^24 (AT)Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. ²⁵ And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

7 Then the Lord said to Noah, ^(A)“Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that ^(B)you are righteous before me in this generation. ² Take with you seven pairs of all ^(C)clean animals,^[a] the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, ³ and seven pairs^[b] of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴ For in seven days ^(D)I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, ^(E)and every living thing^[c] that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” ^5 (F)And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

⁶ Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. ⁷ And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. ⁸ Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, ⁹ two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰ And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the ^(G)fountains of the great deep burst forth, and ^(H)the windows of the heavens were opened. ¹² And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. ¹³ On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, ¹⁴ they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. ¹⁵ They ^(I)went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. ¹⁶ And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in ^(J)as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.

¹⁷ The flood ^(K)continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. ¹⁸ The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. ¹⁹ And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. ²⁰ The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits^[d] deep. ²¹ And ^(L)all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. ²² Everything on the dry land ^(M)in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. ²³ He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only ^(N)Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. ²⁴ And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.

The Flood Subsides

8 But God ^(O)remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And ^(P)God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. ^2 (Q)The fountains of the deep and ^(R)the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, ³ and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end ^(S)of 150 days the waters had abated, ⁴ and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of ^(T)Ararat. ⁵ And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

⁶ At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made ⁷ and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. ⁸ Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. ⁹ But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. ¹⁰ He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. ¹¹ And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. ¹² Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.

¹³ In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. ¹⁴ In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. ¹⁵ Then God said to Noah, ¹⁶ “Go out from the ark, ^(U)you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. ¹⁷ Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and ^(V)be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” ¹⁸ So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. ¹⁹ Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

God's Covenant with Noah

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹ And when the Lord smelled ^(W)the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again ^(X)curse^[e] the ground because of man, for ^(Y)the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. ^(Z)Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. ^22 (AA)While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, ^(AB)day and night, shall not cease.”

9 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ^(AC)“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. ^2 (AD)The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. ^3 (AE)Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And ^(AF)as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. ⁴ But you shall not eat flesh with its ^(AG)life, that is, its blood. ⁵ And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: ^(AH)from every beast I will require it and ^(AI)from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

⁷ And you,^[f] be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

⁸ Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ⁹ “Behold, ^(AL)I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, ¹⁰ and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. ^11 (AM)I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” ¹² And God said, ^(AN)“This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: ¹³ I have set ^(AO)my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴ When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, ^15 (AP)I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶ When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember ^(AQ)the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” ¹⁷ God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Noah's Descendants

¹⁸ The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were ^(AR)Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) ¹⁹ These three were the sons of Noah, and ^(AS)from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.^[g]

²⁰ Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.^{[h] 21} He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. ²² And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. ²³ Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father's nakedness. ²⁴ When Noah awoke from his wine ^(AT)and knew what his youngest son had done to him, ²⁵ he said,

²⁶ He also said,

²⁸ After the flood Noah lived 350 years. ²⁹ All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

The Sacrifice of Isaac

22 After these things ^(A)God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ² He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to ^(B)the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” ³ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. ⁵ Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy^[a] will go over there and worship and come again to you.” ⁶ And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and ^(C)laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. ⁷ And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” ⁸ Abraham said, ^(D)“God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

⁹ When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and ^(E)laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹² He said, ^(F)“Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for ^(G)now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” ¹³ And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called the name of that place, ^(H)“The Lord will provide”;^[b] as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”^[c]

¹⁵ And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶ and said, ^(I)“By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring ^(J)as the stars of heaven and ^(K)as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess ^(L)the gate of his^[d] enemies, ¹⁸ and ^(M)in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, ^(N)because you have obeyed my voice.” ¹⁹ So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to ^(O)Beersheba. And Abraham lived at ^(P)Beersheba.

²⁰ Now after these things it was told to Abraham, “Behold, ^(Q)Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: ^21 (R)Uz his firstborn, ^(S)Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, ²² Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” ²³ (^(T)Bethuel fathered Rebekah.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother. ²⁴ Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Crossing the Red Sea

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell the people of Israel to ^(A)turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between ^(B)Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. ³ For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ ⁴ And ^(C)I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will ^(D)get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, ^(E)and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the ^(F)mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” ⁶ So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, ⁷ and took ^(G)six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. ⁸ And ^(H)the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while ^(I)the people of Israel were going out defiantly. ⁹ The ^(J)Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them ^(K)encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

¹⁰ When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel ^(L)cried out to the Lord. ¹¹ They ^(M)said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? ¹² Is not this what ^(N)we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” ¹³ And Moses said to the people, ^(O)“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For ^(P)the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. ^14 (Q)The Lord will fight for you, and you have only ^(R)to be silent.”

¹⁵ The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. ^16 (S)Lift up your staff, and ^(T)stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ And ^(U)I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and ^(V)I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. ¹⁸ And the Egyptians ^(W)shall know that I am the Lord, ^(X)when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

^19 (Y)Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, ²⁰ coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night^[a] without one coming near the other all night.

²¹ Then Moses ^(Z)stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by ^(AA)a strong east wind all night and ^(AB)made the sea dry land, and the waters were ^(AC)divided. ²² And ^(AD)the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being ^(AE)a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. ²³ The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. ²⁴ And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, ²⁵ clogging^[b] their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the ^(AF)Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(AG)“Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” ^27 (AH)So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea ^(AI)returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord ^(AJ)threw^[c] the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. ²⁸ The ^(AK)waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, ^(AL)not one of them remained. ²⁹ But the ^(AM)people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

³⁰ Thus the Lord ^(AN)saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ^31 (AO)Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they ^(AP)believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

The Song of Moses

15 Then Moses and the people of Israel ^(AQ)sang this song to the Lord, saying,

¹⁹ For when ^(CE)the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, ^(CF)the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. ²⁰ Then ^(CG)Miriam ^(CH)the prophetess, the ^(CI)sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and ^(CJ)all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. ²¹ And Miriam sang to them:

Bitter Water Made Sweet

²² Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of ^(CL)Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. ²³ When they came to ^(CM)Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.^{[e] 24} And the people ^(CN)grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” ²⁵ And he ^(CO)cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log,^[f] and he ^(CP)threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

There the Lord^[g] made for them a statute and a rule, and there he ^(CQ)tested them, ²⁶ saying, ^(CR)“If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the ^(CS)diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, ^(CT)your healer.”

²⁷ Then ^(CU)they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

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.”

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

3 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ² “Arise, go to ^(A)Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” ³ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now ^(B)Nineveh was an exceedingly great city,^[a] three days' journey in breadth.^{[b] 4} Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” ^5 (C)And the people of Nineveh believed God. ^(D)They called for a fast and ^(E)put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

The People of Nineveh Repent

⁶ The word reached^[c] the king of Nineveh, and ^(F)he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, ^(G)and sat in ashes. ⁷ And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, ^(H)“By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor ^(I)beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, ⁸ but let man and ^(J)beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. ^(K)Let everyone turn from his evil way and from ^(L)the violence that is in his hands. ^9 (M)Who knows? God may turn and relent ^(N)and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”