Ezekiel 37:1-28

YAHWEH’s powerful presence was upon me, and his Spirit lifted me up and carried me away. He set me down in the middle of a valley floor that was covered with countless bones. He made me walk all around the valley among all the vast piles of bones. There in the valley there were very many, very dry bones. YAHWEH asked me, “Son of man, can these bones come back to life again?” And I replied, “Lord YAHWEH, you are the only one who knows.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these dry bones these words, ‘Dry bones, hear what YAHWEH says. Lord YAHWEH says to you: “ ‘I am now going to breathe into you, and you will live again! I will attach muscles and sinews to you. I will make flesh grow on you. I will cover you with skin. I am going to breathe into you, and you will live again. And you will know that I am YAHWEH.’ ” So I prophesied as I had been told. And as I was prophesying, I began to hear a commotion. Behold! It was the clattering of these many skeletons coming together, bone to bone! And as I kept watching, muscles and sinews miraculously appeared! Flesh grew on the bones, and then skin wrapped completely around them, yet there was still no life-breath in them. Then YAHWEH said to me, “Prophesy to the breath. Yes, prophesy, son of man. Say to the breath, ‘Lord YAHWEH says: Divine breath, come now from the four winds. Breathe on these lifeless bodies, so that they can live again.’ ” So I prophesied as he had told me, and the breath entered their bodies. They came alive, got up from the ground, and stood to their feet—a very great, immense army. Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the entire house of Israel. They keep saying, ‘We are as dry as these dead bones. Our nation has been completely destroyed, and we have lost all hope.’ “So, prophesy to them, ‘Lord YAHWEH says to you: Behold! I am now going to open your graves! My people, I will resurrect you out of your graves and lead you home to the land of Israel. And when I open your graves and raise you up, then, my people, you will be convinced that I am YAHWEH. And I will put my Holy Spirit within you, and you will live again. I will resettle you on your own soil. Then you will know that it is I, YAHWEH, who spoke to you, and I do what I say. I, Lord YAHWEH, have spoken.’ ” YAHWEH spoke to me, saying, “Son of man, take a stick and carve on it the words, ‘For Judah and all the Israelites with him.’ Then take another stick and carve on it the words, ‘The stick of Ephraim, for Joseph and all the Israelites with him.’ Now join them together to make a single piece of wood to become one stick in your hand. And when your fellow exiles ask, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’ answer them, ‘Lord YAHWEH says: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph that belongs to Ephraim and those tribes loyal to him and join them to the stick of Judah. I will make two sticks into one, a single stick in my hand.’ “Now, show the people the pieces of wood you have written on, and tell them, ‘Lord YAHWEH says this: I will gather the Israelites from the nations where they have gone. I will gather them together from everywhere and bring them to their homeland. And I will make them into a single nation in the mountainous land of Israel and give them one king to be king over them all. They will never again be divided into two nations nor split into two separate kingdoms. Never again will they defile themselves with their disgusting idols, their detestable things, and rebellions. I will save them from always turning back and repeating their old sins. I will cleanse and purify them. They will be my people, and I shall be their God. “ ‘My beloved servant David will reign over them, and he will be one faithful shepherd for them all. They will walk in my ways, respect my laws, and practice them. They will live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your ancestors once lived. They and their children and grandchildren will live in it forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. I will make my eternal covenant of peace with them. I will resettle them, and I will bless them and multiply them. I will establish my sanctuary among them forever. I will make my home above them. I will be their God, and they will be my beloved people. When my sanctuary is with them forever, then the nations will realize that I set Israel apart as my own.’ ”