Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Vision of the Valley of Bones

37 The Lord laid his hand on me and brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord to the middle of a valley that was filled with bones. ² He led me here and there throughout^[a] the valley, and I was amazed to see that the surface of the entire valley was covered with myriads of very dry bones! ³ The Lord^[b] asked me, “Son of Man, will these bones ever live?”

“Lord God,” I replied, “you know the answer to that!”^[c]

⁴ Then the Lord told me, “Prophesy to these bones. Tell them: ‘You dry bones, listen to the message from the Lord: “ ⁵ This is what the Lord God says to you^[d] dry bones! ‘Pay attention! I’m bringing my Spirit into you right now, and you’re going to live! ⁶ I’m going to grow tendons on you, regenerate your flesh, cover you with skin, and make you breathe again so that you can come back to life and learn that I am the Lord.’”’”

The Bones are Raised to Life

⁷ So I prophesied, just as I had been ordered to do so. Immediately there was a noise and a rattling—and then all of a sudden the bones came together by themselves! Each bone came together, all of them attached together!^{[e] 8} As I continued to watch, I saw tendons growing on the bones,^[f] and muscles growing and covering them, and then skin covered the flesh from above. But the bodies weren’t breathing. ⁹ Then he ordered me, “Prophesy to the Spirit, Son of Man. Tell the Spirit, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Come from the four winds, you Spirit, and breathe into these people who have been killed, so they will live.”’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as I had been ordered, breath entered them, and they began to live. They stood on their own feet as a vast, united army.

The Vision is Interpreted for Ezekiel

¹¹ “These bones represent the entire house of Israel,” the Lord^[g] explained to me. “Look how they keep saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our future is lost. We’ve been completely eliminated!’ ¹² “Therefore prophesy to them, and tell them, ‘Watch me! I’m going to open your graves, lift you out of those graves, and bring my people back into the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you’ll learn that I am the Lord, when I’ve opened your graves and caused you to come up out of them, my people. ¹⁴ I’m going to place my Spirit in you all, and you will live. I’ll place you all into your land, and you’ll learn that I, the Lord, have been speaking and doing this,’ declares the Lord.’”

Jesus Appears to the Disciples^(A)

¹⁹ It was the evening of the first day of the week,^[a] and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders.^[b] Jesus came and stood among them. He told them, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side, and when they saw the Lord, the disciples were overjoyed. ²¹ Jesus told them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” ²² When he had said this, he breathed on them and told them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven. If you retain people’s sins, they are retained.”