Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones

37 The ^(A)hand of the Lord was upon me, and He ^(B)brought me out ^[a]by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the ^(C)valley; and it was full of bones. ² He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. ³ He said to me, “Son of man, ^(D)can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord ^[b]God, ^(E)You know.” ⁴ Again He said to me, “^(F)Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, ^(G)hear the word of the Lord.’ ⁵ Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause ^[c](H)breath to enter you that you may come to life. ⁶ I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will ^(I)know that I am the Lord.’”

⁷ So I prophesied ^(J)as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a ^[d]noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸ And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. ⁹ Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and ^(K)breathe on these slain, that they ^(L)come to life.”’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the ^(M)breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an ^(N)exceedingly great army.

The Vision Explained

¹¹ Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the ^(O)whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our ^(P)bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are ^[e]completely ^(Q)cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will open your graves and ^(R)cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. ¹⁴ I will ^(S)put My ^[f]Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,” declares the Lord.’”

Jesus among His Disciples

¹⁹ So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for ^(A)fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and *said to them, “^[a](B)Peace be with you.” ²⁰ And when He had said this, ^(C)He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then ^(D)rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹ So Jesus said to them again, “^(E)Peace be with you; ^(F)as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” ²² And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ^23 (G)If you forgive the sins of any, their sins ^[b]have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”