| Chapter 37 |
1 | The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which [was] full of bones, |
2 | And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, [there were] very many in the open valley; and, lo, [they were] very dry. |
3 | And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. |
4 | Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. |
5 | Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: |
6 | And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD. |
7 | So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. |
8 | And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but [there was] no breath in them. |
9 | Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon 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 upon their feet, an exceeding great army. |
11 | Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. |
12 | Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. |
13 | And ye shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, |
14 | And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken [it], and performed [it], saith the LORD. |
15 | The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, |
16 | Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and [for] all the house of Israel his companions: |
17 | And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. |
18 | And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou [meanest] by these? |
19 | Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. |
20 | And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. |
21 | And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: |
22 | And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: |
23 | Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. |
24 | And David my servant [shall be] king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. |
25 | And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, [even] they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David [shall be] their prince for ever. |
26 | Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. |
27 | My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. |
28 | And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore. |