Ezekiel 37:1–14

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.’ ”