37Ezekiel 37

Dry Bones Live Again

1Some time later, I felt the Lord's power take control of me, and his Spirit carried me to a valley full of bones.Select Ezekiel 37:1

2The Lord showed me all around, and everywhere I looked I saw bones that were dried out.Select Ezekiel 37:2

3He said, “Ezekiel, son of man, can these bones come back to life?” I replied, “Lord God, only you can answer that.”Select Ezekiel 37:3

4He then told me to say: Dry bones, listen to what the Lord is saying to you,Select Ezekiel 37:4

5“I, the Lord God, will put breath in you, and once again you will live.Select Ezekiel 37:5

6I will wrap you with muscles and skin and breathe life into you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”Select Ezekiel 37:6

7I did what the Lord said, but before I finished speaking, I heard a rattling noise. The bones were coming together!Select Ezekiel 37:7

8I saw muscles and skin cover the bones, but they had no life in them.Select Ezekiel 37:8

9The Lord said: Ezekiel, now say to the wind, “The Lord God commands you to blow from every direction and to breathe life into these dead bodies, so they can live again.”Select Ezekiel 37:9

10As soon as I said this, the wind blew among the bodies, and they came back to life! They all stood up, and there were enough to make a large army.Select Ezekiel 37:10

11The Lord said: Ezekiel, the people of Israel are like dead bones. They complain that they are dried up and that they have no hope for the future.Select Ezekiel 37:11

12So tell them, “I, the Lord God, promise to open your graves and set you free. I will bring you back to Israel,Select Ezekiel 37:12

13and when that happens, you will realize that I am the Lord.Select Ezekiel 37:13

14My Spirit will give you breath, and you will live again. I will bring you home, and you will know that I have kept my promise. I, the Lord, have spoken.”Select Ezekiel 37:14

Judah and Israel Together Again

15The Lord said:Select Ezekiel 37:15

16Ezekiel, son of man, get a stick and write on it, “The kingdom of Judah.” Then get another stick and write on it, “The kingdom of Israel.”Select Ezekiel 37:16

17Hold these two sticks end to end, so they look like one stick.Select Ezekiel 37:17

18And when your people ask you what this means,Select Ezekiel 37:18

19tell them that I, the Lord, will join together the stick of Israel and the stick of Judah. I will hold them in my hand, and they will become one.Select Ezekiel 37:19

20Hold these two sticks where they can be seen by everyoneSelect Ezekiel 37:20

21and then say: I, the Lord God, will gather the people of Israel and bring them home from the foreign nations where they now live.Select Ezekiel 37:21

22I will make them into one nation and let them once again live in the land of Israel. Only one king will rule them, and they will never again be divided into two nations.Select Ezekiel 37:22

23They will no longer worship idols and do things that make them unacceptable to me. I will wash away their sin and make them clean, and I will protect them from everything that makes them unclean. They will be my people, and I will be their God.Select Ezekiel 37:23

25Their king will always come from the family of my servant King David and will care for them like a shepherd. The people of Israel will faithfully obey my laws. They and their descendants will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, just as their ancestors did.Select Ezekiel 37:25

26I solemnly promise to bless the people of Israel with unending peace. I will protect them and let them become a powerful nation. My temple will stand in Israel for all time,Select Ezekiel 37:26

27and I will live among my people and be their God.Select Ezekiel 37:27

28Every nation on earth will know that my temple is in Israel and that I have chosen the Israelites to be my people.Select Ezekiel 37:28