1 dSee ch. 1:3 The hand of the Lord was upon me, andeSee ch. 3:12 he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley;1Or plain; also verse 2 it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me,fSee ch. 2:1 “Son of man,g[1 Cor. 15:35] can these bones live? ” Andh[Deut. 32:39; John 5:21] I answered, “O Lord God, you know. ” 4 Then he said to me,i[ch. 6:2] “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them,j[John 5:28] O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will causek[Gen. 2:7] breath1Or spirit; also verses 6, 9, 10 to enter you, and you shall live. 6 l[ver. 8] And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, andl[ver. 8] cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live,mSee ch. 6:7 and you shall know that I am the Lord. ”
7 So I prophesiednch. 12:7; 24:18 as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold,o[1 Kgs. 19:11] a rattling,1Or an earthquake (compare 3:12, 13) and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. Butp[ver. 5] there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me,i[See ver. 4 above] “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy,f[See ver. 3 above] son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God : Come fromqDan. 7:2; 11:4; Rev. 7:1 the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live. ” 10 So I prophesiedn[See ver. 7 above] as he commanded me, andrRev. 11:11 the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
11 Then he said to me,f[See ver. 3 above] “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, ands[ch. 33:10; Isa. 49:14] our hope is lost;tLam. 3:54 we are clean cut off. ’ 12 Thereforei[See ver. 4 above] prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God : Behold,u[Isa. 26:19; Hos. 13:14] I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. Andvver. 21, 25; ch. 36:24 I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 AndwSee ch. 6:7 you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 Andxch. 36:27 I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord;ySee ch. 17:24 I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord. ”
15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 zSee ch. 2:1 “Son of man,a[Num. 17:2] take a stick1Or one piece of wood; also verses 17, 19, 20 and write on it, ‘Forb[Zech. 10:6] Judah, andc2 Chr. 11:12, 13, 16; 15:9; 30:11, 18 the people of Israel associated with him ’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘Forb[Zech. 10:6] Joseph (the stick ofdGen. 48:13, 14, 19; [Hos. 5:3, 5] Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him. ’ 17 Ande[ver. 22, 24] join them one to another into one stick, thatf[Isa. 11:13] they may becomeg[ch. 35:10] one in your hand. 18 And whenhSee ch. 33:2 your people say to you,iSee ch. 12:9 ‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these? ’ 19 say to them, Thus says the Lord God : Behold, I am about to takej[ver. 16] the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it thej[ver. 16] stick of Judah, andk[ver. 17] make them one stick,g[See ver. 17 above] that they may be one in my hand. 20 When the sticks on which you write are in your handlSee ch. 12:3 before their eyes, 21 then say to them, Thus says the Lord God : Behold,mver. 25; ch. 36:24; See ch. 11:17 I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, andmver. 25; ch. 36:24; See ch. 11:17 bring them to their own land. 22 Andn[ver. 17; Jer. 50:4] I will make them one nation in the land, onoSee ch. 6:2 the mountains of Israel. Andp[ver. 24, 25; ch. 34:24] one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longerq[ch. 35:10] two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. 23 r[ch. 36:25] They shall notsch. 14:11 defile themselves anymoretch. 36:25 with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. Butuch. 36:29 I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; andvch. 34:24, 30; 2 Cor. 6:16; Rev. 21:3; See Ex. 29:45; Lev. 26:12 they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
24 My servantwSee ch. 34:23 DavidxSee Jer. 23:5 shall be king over them, and they shall all havey[ver. 22] one shepherd.zch. 36:27 They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. 25 ach. 28:25 They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell therebIsa. 60:21; Joel 3:20; Amos 9:15 forever, and David my servant shall be their princec[John 12:34] forever. 26 dch. 34:25 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall beeSee Isa. 55:3 an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land andfSee ch. 36:10 multiply them, and willgver. 28; ch. 43:7; See ch. 11:16 set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 hLev. 26:11; Rev. 21:3 My dwelling place shall be with them,v[See ver. 23 above] and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 TheniSee ch. 36:23 the nations will know thatjSee ch. 20:12 I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, wheng[See ver. 26 above] my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore. ”