Old/New Testament
Chapter 37
Vision of the Dry Bones.[a] 1 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he carried me away by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley that was full of bones. 2 He made me walk among them in every direction so that I would be aware how great was the number of these bones on the floor of the valley, and they were exceedingly dry.
3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I replied, “Lord God, only you can know that.” 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: I am going to cause breath to enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will put sinews on you and cause flesh to grow over you and cover you with skin. I will put breath within you, and you will live, and you will know that I am the Lord.”
7 Therefore, I prophesied as I had been commanded to do, and as I was prophesying, I heard a noise, a sound of rattling, as the bones came together, bone uniting with bone. 8 As I watched, sinews and flesh grew upon the bones, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the Spirit. Prophesy, son of man, and say to the Spirit: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O Spirit, and breathe into these slain so that they may live.” 10 I prophesied as he had commanded me, and the Spirit entered into them. They came to life and stood on their feet, an immense army.
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They continue to say, ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope has vanished, and we are cut off completely.’ 12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: My people, I am going to open your graves and raise you up from them and bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you up from them, O my people. 14 When I put my Spirit within you, you will live, and I will resettle you on your own soil. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and I have done this, says the Lord.’ ”
15 Union of the Two Sticks.[b] This word of the Lord came to me: 16 Son of man, take a stick and write on it: “Judah and those Israelites associated with him.” Then take another stick and write on it: “Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.” 17 Then join the two sticks together so that they form one stick in your hand.
18 When your countrymen say to you, “Will you not tell us what you mean by this?” 19 say to them: Thus says the Lord God: I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in Ephraim’s hand, and of the tribes of Israel loyal to him, and I will join it to the stick of Judah. I will make them a single stick instead of two, and they shall be one in my hand.
20 When the sticks upon which you have written are held up in your hand for everyone to see, 21 say to them: Thus says the Lord God: I will take the Israelites from the nations among which they have been exiled. I will gather them from every side and bring them back to their land.
22 I will unify them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all. Never again will they be two separate nations, nor will they be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and their loathsome images or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all of their sins of apostasy that they have committed, and I will cleanse them. Thus, they will be my people, and I will be their God.
24 My servant David will be their king, and they all will have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be scrupulous in obeying my statutes. 25 They will live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, the land in which your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and my servant David will be their prince forever.
26 I will make a covenant of peace with them, and I will bless and multiply them and establish my sanctuary among them forever. 27 I will make my dwelling with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel when I establish my sanctuary among them forevermore.
Chapter 38
First Prophecy against Gog.[c] 1 This word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, turn your face toward Gog, in the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him.
3 Say: Thus says the Lord God: I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around and affix hooks in your jaws, and I will lead you forth with your entire army—your horses and your horsemen, all of them fully equipped, and a huge horde with bucklers and shields, all of them brandishing their swords.
5 Accompanying them will be the forces of Persia, Ethiopia, and Put, all with shields and helmets; 6 Gomer[d] and all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the far north with all its troops—a huge assemblage gathered in support of you. 7 Get ready and be prepared, you and all your troops and all your allies that have come together to support you. Keep yourselves at my disposal.
8 After a long period of time, you will be given orders, and sometime thereafter you will invade a land that has emerged from ruin. Its people have been assembled from many nations on the mountains of Israel which had long been desolate, and all of them are living in safety. 9 You will advance, coming forth like a storm. You will cover the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and the many nations who have come to support you.
10 Thus says the Lord God: On that day thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme. 11 You will say, “I will attack this country that has no means of defense and march against this peaceful nation which dwells with a sense of security, even though it has no walls or bars or gates. 12 I will plunder and loot and strip bare the settlements which once lay in ruins but are now inhabited by a people gathered from the nations who dwell at the very center of the world, a people engaged in trade and breeding cattle.”
13 Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages, will say to you, “Is it for plunder that you have come? Have you assembled your horde to carry off silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, and to seize a great amount of booty?”
14 Second Prophecy against Gog. Therefore, prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog: Thus says the Lord God: On that day when my people Israel are living securely, will you not rouse yourself 15 and come forth from your home in the far recesses of the north, you and many nations with you, a mighty army of soldiers beyond counting, all of them riding on horses? 16 You will come forth against my people Israel like a cloud covering the earth. In the final days, I will bring you against my land so that the nations will know me when through you, O Gog, I display my holiness before their eyes.
17 Thus says the Lord God: It was you of whom I spoke in former days through my servants, the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for many years that I would bring you against them. 18 On that day, when Gog attacks the land of Israel, says the Lord God, my fury will be aroused.
19 In my jealousy and in my blazing wrath, I swear that there will be a tremendous earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field, and all the reptiles that crawl on the ground, and every human being on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. Mountains will be thrown down, cliffs will crumble, and every wall will tumble to the ground.
21 I will summon the sword against Gog on all my mountains, says the Lord God, and the swords of all will be turned against their comrades. 22 With pestilence and bloodshed, I will bring judgment upon him, and I will pour down torrential rain, hailstones, fire and brimstone upon him and his troops and the many nations that are supporting him. 23 I will, thereby, display my greatness and my holiness and make myself known to many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
Chapter 39
Third Prophecy against Gog. 1 Son of man, prophesy against Gog and say: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am coming against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 2 I will turn you around and drive you forward. I will lead you from the most remote recesses of the north and bring you to the mountains of Israel.
3 Then I will strike the bow from your left hand and cause your arrows to drop from your right hand. 4 You will fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops as well as the nations that are with you. I will give you as food to birds of prey of every kind and to the wild beasts.
5 You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. 6 I will send fire on Magog and upon those who live undisturbed in the coastlands. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
7 I will make my holy name known among my people Israel, and I will not allow my holy name to be profaned. Thus the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. 8 All this will happen. All this will take place, says the Lord God. This is the day about which I have spoken.
9 Then those who dwell in the towns of Israel will go forth and set fire to the weapons to provide themselves with fuel—bucklers and shields, bows and arrows, clubs and spears—and they will make fires of them for seven years. 10 They will have no need to bring in wood from the fields or cut down any trees in the forests, inasmuch as they will use their weapons to make fires. They will despoil those who despoiled them and plunder those who plundered them, says the Lord God.
11 On that day I will give to Gog a well-known place in Israel for his grave, the Valley of Abarim east of the sea, a valley that is inaccessible to travelers. There Gog and all his horde will be buried. It will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog. 12 The house of Israel will spend seven months burying them in order to purify the land.
13 All the people of the land will bury them, thus gaining renown for doing so on the day that I reveal my glory, says the Lord God. 14 Some men will be designated for the assignment to pass through the land and bury any travelers who remain lying on the ground, so as to purify it. They will begin their search at the end of seven months.
15 As these searchers go through the country, if anyone sees a human bone, he must put up a marker beside it until the gravediggers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. 16 (A city named Hamonah is there also.) Thus the land will be purified.
17 As for you, son of man, the Lord God says this: Say to the wild birds of every kind and to all the wild animals: Assemble and come together. Gather from all sides for the sacrificial feast I am preparing for you, a magnificent sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel. 18 You will consume the flesh of the mighty, and you will drink the blood of the princes of the earth—of rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 At the sacrificial feast I am preparing for you, you will eat fat until you are filled and drink blood until you are drunk. 20 At my table you will be filled with horses and riders, with warriors and soldiers of every kind, says the Lord God.
21 Israel’s Reunion.[e] I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment that I inflict and the hand that I lay upon them. 22 From that day forward, the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord, their God.
23 Furthermore, the nations will know that the people of the house of Israel were exiled because of their iniquity, inasmuch as they dealt treacherously with me. Therefore, I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, so that they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my face from them.
25 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. 26 They will forget their disgrace and all the acts of infidelity they committed against me when they will live in security in their land, with no one to make them afraid.
27 When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from the lands of their enemies, I will display through them my holiness in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am the Lord, their God, because, having sent them into exile among the nations, I then reunited them into their own land and left none of them behind. 29 Never again will I hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord God.
Warning against False Teachers[a]
Chapter 2
False Teachers Will Arise. 1 Just as there were false prophets who arose among the people, so there will be false teachers among you. They will introduce their disruptive views and even deny the very Master who redeemed them, thus bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2 Many will be seduced by their licentious ways, and because of these teachers the way of truth will be brought into disrepute. 3 In their greed they will exploit you with concocted stories.
The Condemnation of False Teachers. However, their condemnation has been hanging over them for a long time, and the destruction awaiting them does not slumber. 4 For God did not spare the angels who sinned, but he cast them into the dark abyss to be chained, where they are being held until the judgment.[b] 5 Nor did he spare the ancient world,[c] even though he saved Noah, a herald of righteousness, one of eight, when he brought a flood upon the world with its godless people.
6 God also reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, thereby condemning them to total ruin and making them an example of what awaited the ungodly. 7 However, he rescued Lot, an upright man who was sickened by the licentiousness of the lawless society in which he lived 8 for that man was greatly tormented in his righteous soul by the crimes that he saw and about which he was told day after day.
9 Therefore, the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials and to hold the wicked for punishment until the Day of Judgment. 10 Above all, he will punish those who succumb to the desires of their corrupt human nature and show no respect for authority.
The Ways of False Teachers. Bold and headstrong, they are not afraid to insult celestial beings, 11 whereas angels, despite their superior strength and power, do not bring slanderous accusations against such men in the Lord’s presence.[d] 12 These men are like wild beasts, mere creatures of instinct born to be caught and killed.
They pour abuse on things they do not understand, and in their corruption they also will be destroyed, 13 receiving the penalty[e] for doing wrong. They regard it as a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. While they share your table, they are ugly blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures.
14 They have eyes that are always on the trail of adultery, insatiable in their desire for sinful pursuits. They seduce unstable people, and their hearts are fixed on greed. Truly, they are an accursed brood.[f] 15 They have abandoned the straight path and have gone astray, following in the steps of Balaam, the son of Beor,[g] who loved to receive payment for wrongdoing. 16 However, he received a rebuke for his crime when a mute donkey spoke with a human voice and put a stop to the prophet’s madness.
17 Such people are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of darkness has been reserved. 18 They speak boastful words devoid of meaning, and by arousing licentious desires of the flesh they entice people who are just escaping from living in error.
19 They promise them freedom, although they themselves are slaves of depravity.[h] For people are slaves of whatever has mastered them. 20 If they have escaped the world’s defilements through coming to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then again become entangled and are overpowered, they are worse off in this latter state than they were before.
21 It would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn back and abandon the holy commandment that was handed on to them. 22 What happened to them manifests the truth of the proverbs:
“The dog returns to its own vomit,”[i]
and
“The washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud.”
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