| New Living Translation | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1The LORD took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the LORD to a valley filled with bones. | 1The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. |
| 2He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. | 2He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. |
| 3Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?” “O Sovereign LORD,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.” | 3He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, You know." |
| 4Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the LORD! | 4Again He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.' |
| 5This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! | 5"Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. |
| 6I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’” | 6'I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.'" |
| 7So I spoke this message, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. | 7So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. |
| 8Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them. | 8And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. |
| 9Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of man. Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’” | 9Then He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life."'" |
| 10So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army. | 10So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. |
| 11Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.’ | 11Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.' |
| 12Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel. | 12"Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. |
| 13When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the LORD. | 13"Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. |
| 14I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the LORD has spoken!’” Reunion of Israel and Judah | 14"I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it," declares the LORD.'" |
| 15Again a message came to me from the LORD: | 15The word of the LORD came again to me saying, |
| 16“Son of man, take a piece of wood and carve on it these words: ‘This represents Judah and its allied tribes.’ Then take another piece and carve these words on it: ‘This represents Ephraim and the northern tribes of Israel.’ | 16"And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, 'For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions'; then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.' |
| 17Now hold them together in your hand as if they were one piece of wood. | 17"Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. |
| 18When your people ask you what your actions mean, | 18"When the sons of your people speak to you saying, 'Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?' |
| 19say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take Ephraim and the northern tribes and join them to Judah. I will make them one piece of wood in my hand.’ | 19say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand."' |
| 20“Then hold out the pieces of wood you have inscribed, so the people can see them. | 20"The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. |
| 21And give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: I will gather the people of Israel from among the nations. I will bring them home to their own land from the places where they have been scattered. | 21"Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; |
| 22I will unify them into one nation on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule them all; no longer will they be divided into two nations or into two kingdoms. | 22and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. |
| 23They will never again pollute themselves with their idols and vile images and rebellion, for I will save them from their sinful apostasy. I will cleanse them. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God. | 23"They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God. |
| 24“My servant David will be their king, and they will have only one shepherd. They will obey my regulations and be careful to keep my decrees. | 24"My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. |
| 25They will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren after them will live there forever, generation after generation. And my servant David will be their prince forever. | 25"They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons' sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever. |
| 26And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give them their land and increase their numbers, and I will put my Temple among them forever. | 26"I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. |
| 27I will make my home among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. | 27"My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. |
| 28And when my Temple is among them forever, the nations will know that I am the LORD, who makes Israel holy.” | 28"And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever."'" |
| Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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