Old/New Testament
The Valley of Dry Bones
37 The hand[a] of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and placed[b] me in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones. 2 He made me walk all around among them.[c] I realized[d] there were a great many bones in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said to him, “Sovereign Lord, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and tell them: ‘Dry bones, listen to the Lord’s message. 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: Look, I am about to infuse breath[e] into you and you will live. 6 I will put tendons[f] on you and muscles over you and will cover you with skin; I will put breath[g] in you, and you will live. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. There was a sound when I prophesied— I heard[h] a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 As I watched, I saw[i] tendons on them, then muscles appeared,[j] and skin covered over them from above, but there was no breath[k] in them.
9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath,[l]—prophesy, son of man—and say to the breath: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these corpses so that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as I was commanded, and the breath came into them; they lived and stood on their feet, an extremely great army.
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope has perished; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to open your graves and will raise you from your graves, my people. I will bring you to the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. 14 I will place my breath[m] in you and you will live; I will give you rest in your own land. Then you will know that I am the Lord—I have spoken and I will act, declares the Lord.’”
15 The Lord’s message came to me: 16 “As for you, son of man, take one branch and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another branch and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the branch of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ 17 Join[n] them as one stick;[o] they will be as one in your hand. 18 When your people[p] say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what these things mean?’ 19 tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the branch of Joseph that is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will place them on the stick of Judah[q] and make them into one stick—they will be one in my hand.’[r] 20 The sticks you write on will be in your hand in front of them. 21 Then tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from round about and bring them to their land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all. They will never again be two nations and never again be divided into two kingdoms.[s] 23 They will not defile themselves with their idols, their detestable things, and all their rebellious deeds. I will save them from all their unfaithfulness[t] by which they sinned. I will purify them; they will become my people, and I will become their God.
24 “‘My servant David will be king over them; there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow[u] my regulations and carefully observe my statutes.[v] 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your fathers lived; they will live in it—they and their children and their grandchildren forever. David my servant will be prince over them forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be a perpetual covenant with them.[w] I will establish them,[x] increase their numbers, and place my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 Then, when my sanctuary is among them forever, the nations will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel.’”[y]
A Prophecy Against Gog
38 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, turn toward[z] Gog,[aa] of the land of Magog,[ab] the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.[ac] Prophesy against him 3 and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against you,[ad] Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and bring you out with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all of them fully armed, a great company with shields of different types,[ae] all of them armed with swords. 5 Persia,[af] Ethiopia, and Put[ag] are with them, all of them with shields and helmets. 6 They are joined by[ah] Gomer with all its troops, and by Beth Togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples are with you.[ai]
7 “‘Be ready and stay ready, you and all your companies assembled around you, and be a guard for them.[aj] 8 After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come to a land restored from the ravages of war,[ak] from many peoples gathered on the mountains of Israel that had long been in ruins. Its people[al] were brought out from the peoples, and all of them will be living securely. 9 You will advance;[am] you will come like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the earth, you, all your troops, and the many other peoples with you.
10 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind,[an] and you will devise an evil plan. 11 You will say, “I will invade[ao] a land of unwalled towns; I will advance against[ap] those living quietly in security—all of them living without walls and barred gates— 12 to loot and plunder, to attack[aq] the inhabited ruins and the people gathered from the nations, who are acquiring cattle and goods, who live at the center[ar] of the earth.” 13 Sheba and Dedan and the traders of Tarshish with all its young warriors[as] will say to you, “Have you come to loot? Have you assembled your armies to plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to haul away a great amount of spoils?”’
14 “Therefore, prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On that day when my people Israel are living securely, you will take notice[at] 15 and come from your place, from the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a vast army. 16 You will advance[au] against my people Israel like a cloud covering the earth. In future days I will bring you against my land so that the nations may acknowledge me, when before their eyes I magnify myself[av] through you, O Gog.
17 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days by my servants[aw] the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days[ax] that I would bring you against them? 18 On that day, when Gog invades[ay] the land of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord, my rage will mount up in my anger. 19 In my zeal, in the fire of my fury,[az] I declare that on that day there will be a great earthquake[ba] in the land of Israel. 20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the wild beasts, all the things that creep on the ground, and all people who live on the face of the earth will shake[bb] at my presence. The mountains will topple, the cliffs[bc] will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 I will call for a sword to attack[bd] Gog[be] on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord; every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 I will judge him with plague and bloodshed. I will rain down on him, his troops, and the many peoples who are with him a torrential downpour, hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23 I will exalt and magnify myself; I will reveal myself before many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’
39 “As for you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal! 2 I will turn you around and drag you along;[bf] I will lead you up from the remotest parts of the north and bring you against the mountains of Israel. 3 I will knock your bow out of your left hand and make your arrows fall from your right hand. 4 You will fall dead on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the people who are with you. I give you as food to every kind of bird and every wild beast. 5 You will fall dead in the open field; for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. 6 I will send fire on Magog and those who live securely in the coastlands; then they will know that I am the Lord.
7 “‘I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.[bg] 8 Realize that it is coming and it will be done, declares the Sovereign Lord. It is the day I have spoken about.
9 “‘Then those who live in the cities of Israel will go out and use the weapons for kindling[bh]—the shields,[bi] bows and arrows, war clubs and spears—they will burn them for seven years. 10 They will not need to take[bj] wood from the field or cut down trees from the forests because they will make fires with the weapons. They will take the loot from those who looted them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them,[bk] declares the Sovereign Lord.
11 “‘On that day I will assign Gog a grave in Israel. It will be the valley of those who travel east of the sea; it will block the way of the travelers. There they will bury Gog and all his horde; they will call it the Valley of Hamon Gog.[bl] 12 For seven months Israel[bm] will bury them, in order to cleanse the land. 13 All the people of the land will bury them, and it will be a memorial[bn] for them on the day I magnify myself, declares the Sovereign Lord. 14 They will designate men to scout continually[bo] through the land, burying those who remain on the surface of the ground,[bp] in order to cleanse it. They will search for seven full months. 15 When the scouts survey[bq] the land and see a human bone, they will place a sign by it, until those assigned to burial duty have buried it[br] in the valley of Hamon Gog. 16 (A city by the name of Hamonah[bs] will also be there.) They will cleanse the land.’
17 “As for you, son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Tell every kind of bird and every wild beast: ‘Assemble and come! Gather from all around to my slaughter[bt] that I am going to make for you, a great slaughter on the mountains of Israel! You will eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You will eat the flesh of warriors[bu] and drink the blood of the princes of the earth—the rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fattened animals of Bashan. 19 You will eat fat until you are full, and drink blood until you are drunk[bv] at my slaughter[bw] that I have made for you. 20 You will fill up at my table with horses and charioteers,[bx] with warriors and all the soldiers,’ declares the Sovereign Lord.
21 “I will display my majesty[by] among the nations. All the nations will witness the judgment I have executed and the power I have exhibited[bz] among them. 22 Then the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God, from that day forward. 23 The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile due to their iniquity,[ca] for they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies; all of them died by the sword. 24 According to their uncleanness and rebellion I have dealt with them, and I hid my face from them.
25 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Now I will restore[cb] the fortunes of Jacob, and I will have mercy on the entire house of Israel. I will be zealous for my holy name. 26 They will bear their shame for all their unfaithful acts against me, when they live securely on their land with no one to make them afraid. 27 When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will magnify myself among them in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God because I sent them into exile among the nations and then gathered them into their own land. I will not leave any of them in exile[cc] any longer. 29 I will no longer hide my face from them, when I pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel,[cd] declares the Sovereign Lord.”
The False Teachers’ Ungodly Lifestyle
2 But false prophets arose among the people,[a] just as there will be false teachers among you. These false teachers[b] will[c] infiltrate your midst[d] with destructive heresies,[e] even to the point of[f] denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring[g] swift destruction on themselves. 2 And many will follow their debauched lifestyles.[h] Because of these false teachers,[i] the way of truth will be slandered.[j] 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their[k] condemnation pronounced long ago[l] is not sitting idly by;[m] their[n] destruction is not asleep.
4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned,[o] but threw them into hell[p] and locked them up[q] in chains[r] in utter darkness,[s] to be kept until the judgment, 5 and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others,[t] when God[u] brought a flood on an ungodly world,[v] 6 and if he turned to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when he condemned them to destruction,[w] having appointed[x] them to serve as an example[y] to future generations of the ungodly,[z] 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man in anguish over the debauched lifestyle of lawless[aa] men,[ab] 8 (for while he lived among them day after day, that righteous man was tormented in his righteous soul[ac] by the lawless deeds he saw and heard[ad]) 9 —if so,[ae] then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials,[af] and to reserve the unrighteous for punishment[ag] at the day of judgment, 10 especially those who indulge their fleshly desires[ah] and who despise authority.
Brazen and insolent,[ai] they are not afraid to insult[aj] the glorious ones,[ak] 11 yet even[al] angels, who are much more powerful,[am] do not bring a slanderous[an] judgment against them in the presence of the Lord.[ao] 12 But[ap] these men,[aq] like irrational animals—creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed[ar]—do not understand whom[as] they are insulting, and consequently[at] in their destruction they will be destroyed,[au] 13 suffering harm as the wages for their harmful ways.[av] By considering it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight,[aw] they are stains and blemishes, indulging[ax] in their deceitful pleasures when they feast together with you. 14 Their eyes,[ay] full of adultery,[az] never stop sinning;[ba] they entice[bb] unstable people.[bc] They have trained their hearts for greed, these cursed children![bd] 15 By forsaking the right path they have gone astray, because they followed the way of Balaam son of Bosor,[be] who loved the wages of unrighteousness,[bf] 16 yet was rebuked[bg] for his own transgression (a dumb donkey,[bh] speaking with a human voice,[bi] restrained the prophet’s madness).[bj]
17 These men[bk] are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm, for whom the utter depths of darkness[bl] have been reserved. 18 For by speaking high-sounding but empty words[bm] they are able to entice,[bn] with fleshly desires and with debauchery,[bo] people[bp] who have just escaped[bq] from those who reside in error.[br] 19 Although these false teachers promise[bs] such people[bt] freedom, they themselves are enslaved to[bu] immorality.[bv] For whatever a person succumbs to, to that he is enslaved.[bw] 20 For if after they have escaped the filthy things[bx] of the world through the rich knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,[by] they[bz] again get entangled in them and succumb to them,[ca] their last state has become worse for them than their first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them. 22 They are illustrations of this true proverb:[cb] “A dog returns to its own vomit,”[cc] and “A sow, after washing herself,[cd] wallows in the mire.”[ce]
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