The Valley of Dry Bones
1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them in the open valley where there were very many of them, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I answered, “Lord God, you alone know.”
4 Again he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and tell them, ‘You dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 The Lord God says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter into you, and you will live. 6 I will set tendons and bring flesh on you, covering you with skin and putting breath within you, and you will live. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. As I prophesied, there was a noise, like an earthquake. Then the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I watched, and there were tendons on them and flesh appearing and skin covering them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the wind. Prophesy, son of man and tell the wind, ‘The Lord God says: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.’ ”
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
The Vision Explained
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost. We are completely cut off.’
12 Therefore prophesy and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I will open your graves and cause you to emerge from your graves, my people, and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 You will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and brought you up from your graves, my people. 14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live. Then I will place you in your own land, and you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it, declares the Lord.’ ”
One Nation with One King
15 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, 16 “You, son of man, take one stick and write on it, ‘For Judah, and for the Israelites his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions.’ 17 Then join them, one to the other, into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.
18 When your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not show us what you mean by this?’ 19 tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I will 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. 20 The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.’
21 Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I will take the Israelites from among the nations, where they have gone and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. One king will be king to all of them. They will no longer be two nations. They will no longer be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with idols or detestable things or with any of their transgressions, but I will save them from all their apostasies by which they have sinned and will cleanse them. So they will be my people, and I will be their God.
24 My servant David will be king over them. They all will have one shepherd. They will also walk in my ordinances and observe my statutes and do them. 25 They will dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived. They will dwell within it, they, and their children, and their children’s children, forever. David my servant will be their prince forever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them. It will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will place them, multiply them, and will set my sanctuary among them forevermore. 27 My dwelling place will also be with them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 The nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel when my sanctuary is among them forevermore.’ ”