² And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?”

²⁷ But ^(A)God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

⁸ In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them.

³ And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

So I answered, “O Lord God, ^(A)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 ^(B)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. ^(C)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: ^(D)“Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as He commanded me, ^(E)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 ^(F)whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ^(G)‘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, ^(H)O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and ^(I)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.

⁴³ Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and the children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard ^(A)afar off.

¹⁰ Then Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.”

⁴³ So the Philistine ^(A)said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ And the Philistine ^(B)said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”