Ezekiel 37

¹ The hand of Yahweh was on me; he carried me away by the spirit of Yahweh and set me down in themiddle of the val ey, a valley ful of bones.

² He made me walk up and down and all around among them. There were vast quantities of thesebones on the floor of the val ey; and they were completely dry.

³ He said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' I said, 'You know, Lord Yahweh.'

⁴ He said, 'Prophesy over these bones. Say, "Dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh.

⁵ The Lord Yahweh says this to these bones: I am now going to make breath enter you, and you willlive.

⁶ I shal put sinews on you, I shal make flesh grow on you, I shal cover you with skin and give youbreath, and you wil live; and you wil know that I am Yahweh." '

⁷ I prophesied as I had been ordered. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a clattering sound; itwas the bones coming together.

⁸ And as I looked, they were covered with sinews; flesh was growing on them and skin was coveringthem, yet there was no breath in them.

⁹ He said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man. Say to the breath, "The Lord Yahwehsays this: Come from the four winds, breath; breathe on these dead, so that they come to life!" '

¹⁰ I prophesied as he had ordered me, and the breath entered them; they came to life and stood up ontheir feet, a great, an immense army.

¹¹ Then he said, 'Son of man, these bones are the whole House of Israel. They keep saying, "Ourbones are dry, our hope has gone; we are done for."

¹² So, prophesy. Say to them, "The Lord Yahweh says this: I am now going to open your graves; I shallraise you from your graves, my people, and lead you back to the soil of Israel.

¹³ And you wil know that I am Yahweh, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, mypeople,

¹⁴ and put my spirit in you, and you revive, and I resettle you on your own soil. Then you will know thatI, Yahweh, have spoken and done this -- declares the Lord Yahweh." '

¹⁵ The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as fol ows,

¹⁶ 'Son of man, take a stick and write on it, "Judah and those Israelites loyal to him." Take another stick and write on it, "Joseph (Ephraim's wood) and all the House of Israel loyal to him."

¹⁷ 'Join one to the other to make a single piece of wood, a single stick in your hand.

¹⁸ And when the members of your nation say, "Wil you not tel us what you mean?"

¹⁹ say, "The Lord Yahweh says this: I am taking the stick of Joseph (now in Ephraim's hand) and thosetribes of Israel loyal to him and shal join them to the stick of Judah. I shal make one stick out of the two, a singlestick in my hand."

²⁰ 'When the pieces of wood you have written on are in your hand in ful sight of them,

²¹ say, "The Lord Yahweh says this: I shall take the Israelites from the nations where they have gone. Ishall gather them to- gether from everywhere and bring them home to their own soil.

²² I shal make them into one nation in the country, on the mountains of Israel, and one king is to beking of them al ; they will no longer form two nations, nor be two separate kingdoms.

²³ They will no longer defile themselves with their foul idols, their horrors and any of their crimes. I shallsave them from the acts of infidelity which they have committed and shal cleanse them; they will be my peopleand I shall be their God.

²⁴ My servant David will reign over them, one shepherd for al ; they wil fol ow my judgements, respectmy laws and practise them.

²⁵ They will live in the country which I gave to my servant Jacob, the country in which your ancestorslived. They wil live in it, they, their children, their children's children, for ever. David my servant is to be theirprince for ever.

²⁶ I shal make a covenant of peace with them, an eternal covenant with them. I shal resettle them andmake them grow; I shall set my sanctuary among them for ever.

²⁷ I shal make my home above them; I shall be their God, and they wil be my people.

²⁸ And the nations wil know that I am Yahweh the sanctifier of Israel, when my sanctuary is with themfor ever." '