Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones

37 The ^(A)hand of the Lord was upon me, and He ^(B)brought me out ^[a]by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the ^(C)valley; and it was full of bones. 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. ³ Then He said to me, “Son of man, ^(D)can these bones live?” And I answered, “Lord ^[b]God, ^(E)You Yourself know.” ⁴ Again He said to me, “^(F)Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘You dry bones, ^(G)hear the word of the Lord.’ ⁵ This is what the Lord God says to these bones: ‘Behold, I am going to make ^[c](H)breath enter you so that you may come to life. ⁶ And I will ^[d]attach 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 ^(I)know that I am the Lord.’”

⁷ So I prophesied ^(J)as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a loud noise, and behold, a ^[e]rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸ And I looked, and behold, tendons were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. 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 ^(K)breathe on these slain, so that they ^(L)come to life.”’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the ^(M)breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an ^(N)exceedingly great army.

The Vision Explained

¹¹ Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the ^(O)entire house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our ^(P)bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are ^[f]completely ^(Q)cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am going to open your graves and ^(R)cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 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. ¹⁴ And I will ^(S)put My ^[g]Spirit 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.’”

Reunion of Judah and Israel

¹⁵ The word of the Lord came again to me, saying, ¹⁶ “Now you, son of man, take for yourself ^(T)one stick and write on it, ‘For ^(U)Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For ^(V)Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’ ¹⁷ Then ^(W)put them together for yourself one to another into one stick, so that they may become one in your hand. ¹⁸ And when the sons of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not declare to us ^(X)what ^[h]you mean by these?’ 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.”’ ²⁰ The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. ²¹ And say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am going to ^(Y)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; ²² and I will make them ^(Z)one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and ^(AA)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. ²³ They will ^(AB)no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their offenses; but ^(AC)I will rescue them from all their ^[i]dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God.

The Davidic Kingdom

²⁴ “And My servant ^(AD)David will be king over them, and they will all have ^(AE)one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances, and keep My statutes and ^[j]follow them. 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 ^(AF)David will be their leader forever. ²⁶ And I will make a ^(AG)covenant of peace with them; it will be an ^(AH)everlasting covenant with them. And I will ^[k]place them and ^(AI)multiply them, and set My ^(AJ)sanctuary in their midst forever. ²⁷ My ^(AK)dwelling place also will be among them; and ^(AL)I will be their God, and they will be My people. ²⁸ And the nations will know that I am the Lord ^(AM)who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”’”