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’ ”
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’ ”
About The New International VersionThe NIV is the world’s most read and trusted contemporary English Bible translation. It follows the principle of "dynamic equivalence" to ensure crystal clear understandable English. The NIV is the most readable English Bible ever produced. |
|
Copyright |
Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica, Inc.™ Used by Permission. All rights reserved worldwide. “New International Version” and “NIV” are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. The NIV® text may be quoted in any form (written, visual, electronic or audio), up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without the express written permission of the publisher, providing the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible nor do the verses quoted account for twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the total text of the work in which they are quoted. Notice of copyright must appear on the title or copyright page as follows: “Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.” The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ When quotations from the NIV® text are used by a local church in non-saleable media such as church bulletins, orders of service, posters, overhead transparencies, or similar materials, a complete copyright notice is not required, but the initials (NIV®) must appear at the end of each quotation. Any commentary or other biblical reference work produced for commercial sale, that uses the NIV® text must obtain written permission for use of the NIV® text. Permission requests for commercial use within the USA and Canada that exceeds the above guidelines must be directed to, and approved in writing by The Zondervan Corporation, 5300 Patterson Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49530, USA. www.Zondervan.com Permission requests for commercial use within the UK, EU and EFTA that exceeds the above guidelines must be directed to, and approved in writing by Hodder & Stoughton Limited, 338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH, United Kingdom. www.Hodder.co.uk Permission requests for non-commercial use that exceeds the above guidelines must be directed to, and approved in writing by Biblica US, Inc., 1820 Jet Stream Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80921, USA. www.Biblica.com Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers printed in this Bible are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of the Bible. |
Support Info | niv2011 |