Old/New Testament
Chapter 37
Vision of the Dry Bones.[a] 1 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he led me out in the spirit of the Lord and set me in the center of the broad valley. It was filled with bones. 2 He made me walk among them in every direction. So many lay on the surface of the valley! How dry they were! 3 He asked me: Son of man, can these bones come back to life? “Lord God,” I answered, “you alone know that.”(A) 4 Then he said to me: Prophesy over these bones, and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Listen! I will make breath enter you so you may come to life. 6 I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow over you, cover you with skin, and put breath into you so you may come to life. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. 7 I prophesied as I had been commanded. A sound started up, as I was prophesying, rattling like thunder. The bones came together, bone joining to bone. 8 As I watched, sinews appeared on them, flesh grew over them, skin covered them on top, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me: Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man! Say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: From the four winds come, O breath, and breathe into these slain that they may come to life.[b](B) 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath entered them; they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army.(C) 11 He said to me: Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel! They are saying, “Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost, and we are cut off.” 12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Look! I am going to open your graves; I will make you come up out of your graves, my people, and bring you back to the land of Israel.(D) 13 You shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and make you come up out of them, my people! 14 I will put my spirit in you that you may come to life, and I will settle you in your land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. I have spoken; I will do it—oracle of the Lord.(E)
The Two Sticks. 15 [c]Thus the word of the Lord came to me: 16 As for you, son of man, take one stick and write on it, “Judah and those Israelites associated with it.” Then take another stick and write on it: “Joseph, Ephraim’s stick, and the whole house of Israel associated with it.” 17 Join the two sticks together so they become one stick in your hand. 18 When your people ask you, “Will you not tell us what you mean by all this?” 19 answer them: Thus says the Lord God: I will take the stick of Joseph, now in Ephraim’s hand, and the tribes of Israel associated with it, and join to it the stick of Judah, making them one stick; they shall become one in my hand.(F) 20 The sticks on which you write, you must hold in your hand in their sight. 21 Say to them: Thus says the Lord God: I will soon take the Israelites from among the nations to which they have gone and gather them from all around to bring them back to their land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel, and there shall be one king for them all. They shall never again be two nations, never again be divided into two kingdoms.(G)
23 No longer shall they defile themselves with their idols, their abominations, and all their transgressions. I will deliver them from all their apostasy through which they sinned. I will cleanse them so that they will be my people, and I will be their God.(H) 24 (I)David my servant shall be king over them; they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my ordinances, observe my statutes, and keep them. 25 They shall live on the land I gave to Jacob my servant, the land where their ancestors lived; they shall live on it always, they, their children, and their children’s children, with David my servant as their prince forever. 26 (J)I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them. I will multiply them and put my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.(K) 28 Then the nations shall know that I, the Lord, make Israel holy, by putting my sanctuary among them forever.
Chapter 38
First Prophecy Against Gog. 1 The word of the Lord came to me:[d] 2 Son of man, turn your face against Gog[e] of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him.(L) 3 Say: Thus says the Lord God: See! I am coming against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws to lead you out with all your army, horses and riders, all well armed, a great company, all of them with bucklers and shields, carrying swords: 5 (M)Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all with shields and helmets; 6 Gomer and all its troops, Beth-togarmah from the recesses of Zaphon and all its troops—many nations will accompany you. 7 Prepare and get ready, you and the company mobilized for you, but in my service. 8 After many days you will be called to battle; in the last years you will invade a land that has survived the sword—a people gathered from many nations back to the long-deserted mountains of Israel, brought forth from the nations to dwell securely.(N) 9 You shall come up like a sudden storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and the many nations with you.(O)
10 Thus says the Lord God: On that day thoughts shall cross your mind, and you shall devise an evil plan. 11 You will say, “I will invade a land of open villages and attack a peaceful people who live in security—all of them living without city walls, bars, or gates”—(P) 12 in order to plunder and pillage, turning your hand against resettled ruins, against a people gathered from the nations, a people whose concern is cattle and goods, dwelling at the center[f] of the earth. 13 Sheba and Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish and all its “young lions” shall ask you: “Have you come here to plunder? Have you summoned your army for pillage, to carry off silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to seize much plunder?”(Q)
Second Prophecy Against Gog. 14 Therefore, prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog: Thus says the Lord God: On that day, when my people Israel dwell securely, will you not take action, 15 leaving your base in the recesses of Zaphon,[g] you and many nations with you, all mounted on horses, a great company, a mighty army?(R) 16 You shall rise up over my people Israel like a cloud covering the land. In those last days, I will let you invade my land so that the nations acknowledge me, when in their sight I show my holiness through you, Gog.
17 Thus says the Lord God: About you I spoke in earlier times through my servants, the prophets of Israel, who prophesied at that time that I would let you invade them. 18 But on that day, the day Gog invades the land of Israel—oracle of the Lord God—my fury will flare up in my anger, 19 and in my jealousy, with fiery wrath, I swear on that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.(S) 20 Before me will tremble the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, the beasts of the field and everything that crawls on the ground, and everyone on the face of the earth. Mountains will be overturned, terraces will collapse, and every wall will fall to the ground.(T) 21 Against him I will summon every terror—oracle of the Lord God; every man’s sword will be raised against his brother.(U) 22 I will execute judgment on him: disease and bloodshed; flooding rain and hailstones, fire and brimstone, I will rain down on him, on his troops and on the many nations with him.(V) 23 And so I will show my greatness and holiness and make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.(W)
Chapter 39
Third Prophecy Against Gog. 1 You, son of man, prophesy against Gog, saying: Thus says the Lord God: Here I am, Gog, coming at you, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 2 I will turn you around, even though I urged you on and brought you up from the recesses of Zaphon and let you attack the mountains of Israel.(X) 3 Then I will strike the bow from your left hand and make the arrows drop from your right. 4 Upon the mountains of Israel you shall fall, you and all your troops and the peoples with you. I will give you as food to birds of prey of every kind and to wild beasts to be eaten. 5 In the open field you shall fall, for I have spoken—oracle of the Lord God.(Y)
6 I will send fire against Magog and against those who live securely on the seacoast, and they will know that I am the Lord.(Z) 7 I will reveal my holy name among my people Israel, and I will never again allow my holy name to be defiled. Then the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.(AA) 8 Yes, it is coming! It shall happen—oracle of the Lord God. This is the day I decreed.
9 Everyone living in the cities of Israel shall go out and set fire to the weapons, buckler and shield, bows and arrows, clubs and spears; for seven years they shall make fires with them.(AB) 10 They will not need to bring in wood from the fields or cut down trees in the forests, for they will make fires with the weapons, plundering those who plundered them, pillaging those who pillaged them—oracle of the Lord God.
11 On that day I will give Gog a place for his tomb in Israel, the Valley of Abarim,[h] east of the sea. It will block the way of travelers. There Gog shall be buried with all his horde; it shall be called “Valley of Hamon-Gog.”(AC) 12 For seven months the house of Israel shall bury them in order to cleanse the land. 13 All the people of the land shall take part in the burials, making a name for themselves on the day I am glorified—oracle of the Lord God. 14 Men shall be permanently assigned to pass through the land, burying those who lie unburied in order to cleanse the land. For seven months they shall keep searching. 15 When these pass through the land and see a human bone, they must set up a marker beside it, until the gravediggers bury it in the Valley of Hamon-Gog. 16 Also the name of the city is Hamonah. Thus the land will be cleansed.
17 As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God: Say to birds of every kind and to every wild beast: “Assemble! Come from all sides for the sacrifice I am making for you, a great slaughter on the mountains of Israel. You shall eat flesh and drink blood! 18 You shall eat the flesh of warriors and drink the blood of the princes of the earth: rams, lambs, and goats, bulls and fatlings from Bashan, all of them.(AD) 19 From the sacrifice I slaughtered for you, you shall eat fat until you are sated and drink blood until you are drunk. 20 At my table you shall be sated with horse and rider, with warrior and soldier of every kind—oracle of the Lord God.
Israel’s Return. 21 Then I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the judgment I executed, the hand I laid upon them. 22 From that day forward the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord, their God. 23 The nations shall know that the house of Israel went into exile because of its sins. Because they betrayed me, I hid my face from them, handing them over to their foes, so they all fell by the sword.(AE) 24 According to their defilement and their crimes I dealt with them, hiding my face from them.(AF)
25 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and take pity on the whole house of Israel; I am zealous for my holy name.(AG) 26 They will forget their shame and all the infidelities they committed against me when they live securely on their own land with no one to frighten them. 27 When I bring them back from the nations and gather them from the lands of their enemies, I will show my holiness through them in the sight of many nations.(AH) 28 Thus they shall know that I, the Lord, am their God, since I who exiled them among the nations will gather them back to their land, not leaving any of them behind. 29 I will no longer hide my face from them once I pour out my spirit upon the house of Israel—oracle of the Lord God.(AI)
III. Condemnation of the False Teachers
Chapter 2
False Teachers.[a] 1 There were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will introduce destructive heresies and even deny the Master who ransomed them, bringing swift destruction on themselves.(A) 2 Many will follow their licentious ways, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled.(B) 3 In their greed they will exploit you with fabrications, but from of old their condemnation has not been idle and their destruction does not sleep.(C)
Lessons from the Past. 4 [b]For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but condemned them to the chains of Tartarus[c] and handed them over to be kept for judgment;(D) 5 [d]and if he did not spare the ancient world, even though he preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, together with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the godless world;(E) 6 and if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah [to destruction], reducing them to ashes, making them an example for the godless [people] of what is coming;(F) 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man oppressed by the licentious conduct of unprincipled people 8 (for day after day that righteous man living among them was tormented in his righteous soul at the lawless deeds that he saw and heard), 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the devout from trial and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,(G) 10 and especially those who follow the flesh with its depraved desire and show contempt for lordship.(H)
False Teachers Denounced.[e] Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to revile glorious beings,[f] 11 [g]whereas angels,(I) despite their superior strength and power, do not bring a reviling judgment against them from the Lord. 12 But these people, like irrational animals born by nature for capture and destruction, revile things that they do not understand, and in their destruction they will also be destroyed,(J) 13 suffering wrong[h] as payment for wrongdoing. Thinking daytime revelry a delight, they are stains and defilements as they revel in their deceits while carousing with you.(K) 14 Their eyes are full of adultery and insatiable for sin. They seduce unstable people, and their hearts are trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Abandoning the straight road, they have gone astray, following the road of Balaam, the son of Bosor,[i] who loved payment for wrongdoing,(L) 16 but he received a rebuke for his own crime: a mute beast spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.(M)
17 These people are waterless springs and mists driven by a gale; for them the gloom of darkness has been reserved.(N) 18 For, talking empty bombast, they seduce with licentious desires of the flesh those who have barely escaped[j] from people who live in error.(O) 19 They promise them freedom, though they themselves are slaves of corruption, for a person is a slave of whatever overcomes him.(P) 20 For if they, having escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of [our] Lord and savior Jesus Christ, again become entangled and overcome by them, their last condition is worse than their first.(Q) 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment handed down[k] to them.(R) 22 [l]What is expressed in the true proverb has happened to them,(S) “The dog returns to its own vomit,” and “A bathed sow returns to wallowing in the mire.”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.