37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out ①by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones.
▷ ①Or in
37:2 He had me pass among them all around, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and behold, they were very dry.
37:3 Then He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “Lord ①GOD, You Yourself know.”
▷ ①Heb YHWH, usually rendered LORD, and so throughout the ch
37:4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘You dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.’
37:5 This is what the Lord GOD says to these bones: ‘Behold, I am going to make ①breath enter you so that you may come to life.
▷ ①Or spirit, and so throughout the ch
37:6 And I will ①attach tendons to you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin, and put breath in you so that you may come to life; and you will know that I am the LORD.’ ”
▷ ①Lit give
37:7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a loud noise, and behold, a ①rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
▷ ①Or rustling
37:8 And I looked, and behold, tendons were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.
37:9 Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘The Lord GOD says this: “Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, so that they come to life.” ’ ”
37:10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
37:11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the entire house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are ①completely cut off.’
▷ ①Lit cut off to ourselves
37:12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I am going to open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.
37:13 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.
37:14 And I will put My ①Spirit 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.’ ”
▷ ①Or breath
37:15 The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,
37:16 “Now you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’
37:17 Then put them together for yourself one to another into one stick, so that they may become one in your hand.
37:18 And when the sons of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not declare to us what ①you mean by these?’
▷ ①Lit these are to you
37:19 say to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I am going to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.” ’
37:20 The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.
37:21 And say to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I am going to take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;
37:22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations, and no longer be divided into two kingdoms.
37:23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their offenses; but I will rescue them from all their ①dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God.
▷ ①Another reading is offenses
37:24 “And My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances, and keep My statutes and ①follow them.
▷ ①Lit do them
37:25 And they will live on the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and My servant David will be their leader forever.
37:26 And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will ①place them and multiply them, and set My sanctuary in their midst forever.
▷ ①Lit give
37:27 My dwelling place also will be among them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.
37:28 And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.” ’ ”