The Valley of Dry Bones

37 The hand of the Lord was on me,x and he brought me out by the Spirity of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley;z it was full of bones.a 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.b”

4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!c 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breatha enter you, and you will come to life.d 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.e’ ”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath;f prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four windsg and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ” 10 So I prophesied as he commandedh me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.i

11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’j 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.k 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord,l when I open your graves and bring you up from them.m 14 I will put my Spiritn in you and you will live, and I will settleo you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.p’ ”

One Nation Under One King

15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelitesq associated with him.r’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’ 17 Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.s

18 “When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’t 19 say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’u 20 Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on 21 and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.v 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel.w There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.x 23 They will no longer defiley themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding,b z and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.a

24 “ ‘My servant Davidb will be kingc over them, and they will all have one shepherd.d They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees.e 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived.f They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever,g and David my servant will be their prince forever.h 26 I will make a covenant of peacei with them; it will be an everlasting covenant.j I will establish them and increase their numbers,k and I will put my sanctuary among theml forever.m 27 My dwelling placen will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.o 28 Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy,p when my sanctuary is among them forever.q’ ”

The Lord’s Great Victory Over the Nations

38 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against Gog,r of the land of Magog,s the chief prince ofa Meshek and Tubal;t prophesy against him 3 and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Gog, chief prince ofb Meshek and Tubal.u 4 I will turn you around, put hooksv in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army—your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords.w 5 Persia, Cushc x and Puty will be with them, all with shields and helmets, 6 also Gomerz with all its troops, and Beth Togarmaha from the far northb with all its troops—the many nations with you.

7 “ ‘Get ready; be prepared,c you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them. 8 After many daysd you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nationse to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety.f 9 You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm;g you will be like a cloudh covering the land.i

10 “ ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On that day thoughts will come into your mindj and you will devise an evil scheme.k 11 You will say, “I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting peoplel—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars.m 12 I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land.d” 13 Sheban and Dedano and the merchants of Tarshishp and all her villagese will say to you, “Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder?q” ’

14 “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety,r will you not take notice of it? 15 You will come from your place in the far north,s you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army.t 16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloudu that covers the land.v In days to come, Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I am proved holyw through you before their eyes.x

17 “ ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You are the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel. At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them. 18 This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign Lord. 19 In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquakey in the land of Israel.z 20 The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremblea at my presence. The mountains will be overturned,b the cliffs will crumblec and every wall will fall to the ground.d 21 I will summon a sworde against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord. Every man’s sword will be against his brother.f 22 I will execute judgmentg on him with plague and bloodshed;h I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstonesi and burning sulfurj on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.k 23 And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.l’

39 “Son of man, prophesy against Gogm and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Gog, chief prince ofa Meshekn and Tubal.o 2 I will turn you around and drag you along. I will bring you from the far northp and send you against the mountains of Israel.q 3 Then I will strike your bowr from your left hand and make your arrowss drop from your right hand. 4 On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birdst and to the wild animals.u 5 You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.v 6 I will send firew on Magogx and on those who live in safety in the coastlands,y and they will knowz that I am the Lord.

7 “ ‘I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned,a and the nations will knowb that I the Lord am the Holy One in Israel.c 8 It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord. This is the dayd I have spoken of.

9 “ ‘Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up—the small and large shields, the bows and arrows,e the war clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel.f 10 They will not need to gather wood from the fields or cut it from the forests, because they will use the weapons for fuel. And they will plunderg those who plundered them and loot those who looted them, declares the Sovereign Lord.h

11 “ ‘On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, in the valley of those who travel east of the Sea. It will block the way of travelers, because Gog and all his hordes will be buriedi there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog.b j

12 “ ‘For seven months the Israelites will be burying them in order to cleanse the land.k 13 All the people of the land will bury them, and the day I display my gloryl will be a memorable day for them, declares the Sovereign Lord. 14 People will be continually …