Daily Bread

The Valley of Dry Bones

37 The hand of the Lord was on me,^(A) and he brought me out by the Spirit^(B) of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley;^(C) it was full of bones.^{(D) 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.^(E)”

⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!^{(F) 5} This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath^[a] enter you, and you will come to life.^{(G) 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.^(H)’”

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;^(I) prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds^(J) and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded^(K) me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.^(L)

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.’^{(M) 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.^{(N) 13} Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord,^(O) when I open your graves and bring you up from them.^{(P) 14} I will put my Spirit^(Q) in you and you will live, and I will settle^(R) you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.^(S)’”

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 Israelites^(T) associated with him.^(U)’ 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.^(V)

¹⁸ “When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’^{(W) 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.’^{(X) 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.^{(Y) 22} I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel.^(Z) There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.^{(AA) 23} They will no longer defile^(AB) themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding,^[b](AC) and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.^(AD)

²⁴ “‘My servant David^(AE) will be king^(AF) over them, and they will all have one shepherd.^(AG) They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees.^{(AH) 25} They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived.^(AI) They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever,^(AJ) and David my servant will be their prince forever.^{(AK) 26} I will make a covenant of peace^(AL) with them; it will be an everlasting covenant.^(AM) I will establish them and increase their numbers,^(AN) and I will put my sanctuary among them^(AO) forever.^{(AP) 27} My dwelling place^(AQ) will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.^{(AR) 28} Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy,^(AS) when my sanctuary is among them forever.^(AT)’”