Ezekiel 37–38

The Vision of Dry Bones

37I felt the power of the Lord on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and put me down in the middle of a valley. It was full of bones. ²He led me around among the bones, and I saw that there were many bones in the valley and that they were very dry. ³Then he asked me, “Human, can these bones live?”

I answered, “Lord God, only you know.”

⁴He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. ⁵This is what the Lord God says to the bones: I will cause breath to enter you so you will come to life. ⁶I will put muscles on you and flesh on you and cover you with skin. Then I will put breath in you so you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

⁷So I prophesied as I was commanded. While I prophesied, there was a noise and a rattling. The bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸I looked and saw muscles come on the bones, and flesh grew, and skin covered the bones. But there was no breath in them.

⁹Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the wind. ⁿ Prophesy, human, and say to the wind, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Wind, come from the four winds, and breathe on these people who were killed so they can come back to life.’ ” ¹⁰So I prophesied as the Lord commanded me. And the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, a very large army.

¹¹Then he said to me, “Human, these bones are like all the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has gone. We are destroyed.’ ¹²So, prophesy and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves. Then I will bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³My people, you will know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and cause you to come up from them. ¹⁴And I will put my Spirit inside you, and you will come to life. Then I will put you in your own land. And you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it, says the Lord.’ ”

Judah and Israel Back Together

¹⁵The Lord spoke his word to me, saying, ¹⁶“Human, take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah and all the Israelites with him.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘The stick of Ephraim, for Joseph and all the Israelites with him.’ ¹⁷Then join them together into one stick so they will be one in your hand.

¹⁸“When your people say to you, ‘Explain to us what you mean by this,’ ¹⁹say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I will take the stick for Joseph and the tribes of Israel with him, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and I will put it with the stick of Judah. I will make them into one stick, and they will be one in my hand.’ ²⁰Hold the sticks on which you wrote these names in your hand so the people can see them. ²¹Say to the people, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I am going to take the people of Israel from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them into their own land. ²²I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule all of them. They will never again be two nations; they will not be divided into two kingdoms anymore. ²³They will not continue to make themselves unclean by their idols, their statues of gods which I hate, or by their sins. I will save them from all the ways they sin and turn against me, and I will make them clean. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.

²⁴“ ‘My servant David will be their king, and they will all have one shepherd. They will live by my rules and obey my laws. ²⁵They will live on the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land in which your ancestors lived. They will all live on the land forever: they, their children, and their grandchildren. David my servant will be their king forever. ²⁶I will make an agreement of peace with them, an agreement that continues forever. I will put them in their land and make them grow in number. Then I will put my Temple among them forever. ²⁷The place where I live will be with them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. ²⁸When my Temple is among them forever, the nations will know that I, the Lord, make Israel holy.’ ”

Prophecy Against Gog

38The Lord spoke his word to me, saying, ²“Human, look toward Gog of the land of Magog, the chief ruler of the nations of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him ³and say, ‘The Lord God says this: I am against you, Gog, chief ruler of Meshech and Tubal. ⁴I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws. And I will bring you out with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all of whom will be dressed in beautiful uniforms. They will be a large army with large and small shields and all having swords. ⁵Persia, Cush, and Put will be with them, all of them having shields and helmets. ⁶There will also be Gomer with all its troops and the nation of Togarmah from the far north with all its troops—many nations with you.

⁷“ ‘Be prepared. Be prepared, you and all the armies that have come together to make you their commander. ⁸After a long time you will be called for service. After those years you will come into a land that has been rebuilt from war. The people in the land will have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which were empty for a long time. These people were brought out from the nations, and they will all be living in safety. ⁹You will come like a storm. You, all your troops, and the many nations with you will be like a cloud covering the land.

¹⁰“ ‘This is what the Lord God says: At that time ideas will come into your mind, and you will think up an evil plan. ¹¹You will say, “I will march against a land of towns without walls. I will attack those who are at rest and live in safety. All of them live without city walls or gate bars or gates. ¹²I will capture treasures and take loot. I will turn my power against the rebuilt ruins that now have people living in them. I will attack these people who have been gathered from the nations, who have become rich with farm animals and property, who live at the center of the world.” ¹³Sheba, Dedan, and the traders of Tarshish, with all its villages, will say to you, “Did you come to capture treasure? Did you bring your troops together to take loot? Did you bring them to carry away silver and gold and to take away farm animals and property?” ’

¹⁴“So prophesy, human, and say to Gog, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Now that my people Israel are living in safety, you will know about it. ¹⁵You will come with many people from your place in the far north. You will have a large group with you, a mighty army, all riding on horses. ¹⁶You will attack my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. This will happen in the days to come when I bring you against my land. Gog, then the nations will know me when they see me prove how holy I am in what I do through you.

¹⁷“ ‘This is what the Lord God says: You are the one about whom I spoke in past days. I spoke through my servants, the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for many years that I would bring you against them. ¹⁸This is what will happen: On the day Gog attacks the land of Israel, I will become very angry, says the Lord God. ¹⁹With jealousy and great anger I tell you that at that time there will surely be a great earthquake in Israel. ²⁰The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the wild animals, everything that crawls on the ground, and all the people on the earth will shake with fear before me. Also the mountains will be thrown down, the cliffs will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground. ²¹Then I will call for a war against Gog on all my mountains, says the Lord God. Everyone’s sword will attack the soldier next to him. ²²I will punish Gog with disease and death. I will send a heavy rain with hailstones and burning sulfur on Gog, his army, and the many nations with him. ²³Then I will show how great I am. I will show my holiness, and I will make myself known to the many nations that watch. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’