Ezekiel 37

1Yahweh’s hand was on me, and by the Spirit of Yahweh he carried me out and set me down in the midst of the valley, and it was filled with bones.

2He made me pass among them all the way around, and I saw that there were a great many lying across the valley floor, and they were extremely dry.

3He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I answered, “Lord Yahweh, you are the one who knows.”

4Then he told me, “Prophesy over these bones and tell them, ‘You dry bones, listen to the word of Yahweh.

5This is what Lord Yahweh says to these bones: I am about to bring breath into you, and you will live.

6I will lay tendons on you, bring flesh up over you, and spread skin across you. I will put breath in you, and you will live. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.’”

7So I prophesied just as I had been commanded. While I was prophesying there came a noise, then a rattling, and the bones moved toward each other, each bone to its bone.

8I looked, and there were tendons on them, flesh had grown over them, and skin had spread over them from above, but they had no breath in them.

9Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath—prophesy, son of man—and tell the breath, ‘This is what Lord Yahweh says: Breath, come from the four winds and blow into these who were killed, so that they may live.’”

10So I prophesied just as he had commanded me. The breath came into them; they lived and rose to their feet, an immense army, exceedingly great.

11Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the entire house of Israel. Listen to what they say: ‘Our bones have dried out, our hope has perished; we are cut off completely.’

12So prophesy and tell them, ‘This is what Lord Yahweh says: I am about to open your graves and lift you out of your graves, my people, and I will bring you to the soil of Israel.

13Then you will know that I am Yahweh, when I open your graves and lift you out of your graves, my people.

14I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken, and I have done it, declares Yahweh.’”

15The word of Yahweh came to me:

16“As for you, son of man, take one stick for yourself and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and to the Israelites joined with him.’ Then take one more stick and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph—the stick of Ephraim—and to all the house of Israel joined with him.’

17Bring them together, one to the other, to make a single stick, so that they are one in your hand.

18When your own people ask you, ‘Are you not going to tell us what you mean by these things?’

19say to them, ‘This is what Lord Yahweh says: I am about to take Joseph’s stick, which is in Ephraim’s hand, with the tribes of Israel joined with him, and I will place them together with the stick of Judah. I will make them a single stick, and they will be one in my hand.’

20Keep the sticks you write on in your hand in full view of them.

21Then tell them, ‘This is what Lord Yahweh says: I am about to take the Israelites out from among the nations to which they went. I will gather them from every side and bring them to their own soil.

22I will make them a single nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule as king over all of them. Never again will they be two nations, and never again will they be split into two kingdoms.

23They will not make themselves unclean anymore with their idols, their vile things, or any of their acts of rebellion. I will rescue them from all the places where they lived and sinned, and I will purify them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

24David my servant will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for them all. They will walk in my ordinances, and they will guard my statutes and do them.

25They will live on the land I gave my servant Jacob, the land your ancestors lived in. They will live on it forever, they and their children and their grandchildren, and David my servant will be their prince forever.

26I will make a covenant of peace with them, a covenant that will last forever. I will set them in place and increase them, and I will put my sanctuary in their midst for all time.

27My dwelling place will be with them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

28Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh, the one who sets Israel apart as holy, when my sanctuary is in their midst forever.’”