| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 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 on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and placed me in the midst 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 made me walk all around among them. I realized there were a great many bones in the valley and 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?" I said to him, "Sovereign Lord, 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! | 4Then he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and tell them: '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! | 5This is what the sovereign LORD says to these bones: Look, I am about to infuse breath into you and you will live. |
| 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.’” | 6I will put tendons on you and muscles over you and will cover you with skin; I will put breath in you and you will live. Then 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. There was a sound when I prophesied--I heard a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to 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. | 8As I watched, I saw tendons on them, then muscles appeared, and skin covered over them from above, 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.’” | 9He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath,--prophesy, son of man--and say to the breath: 'This is what the sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these corpses so that they may live.'" |
| 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 I was commanded, and the breath came into them; they lived and stood on their feet, an extremely 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 all the house of Israel. Look, they are saying, 'Our bones are dry, our hope has perished; we are 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. | 12Therefore prophesy, and tell them, 'This is what the sovereign LORD says: Look, I am about to open your graves and will raise you from your graves, my people. I will bring you to the land of Israel. |
| 13When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the LORD. | 13Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and raise you from 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 | 14I will place my breath in you and you will live; I will give you rest in your own land. Then you will know that I am the LORD--I have spoken and I will act, declares the LORD.'" |
| 15Again a message came to me from the LORD: | 15The word of the LORD came to me: |
| 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"As for you, son of man, take one branch, and write on it, 'For Judah, and for the Israelites associated with him.' Then take another branch and write on it, 'For Joseph, the branch of Ephraim and all the house of Israel associated with him.' |
| 17Now hold them together in your hand as if they were one piece of wood. | 17Join them as one stick; they will be as one in your hand. |
| 18When your people ask you what your actions mean, | 18When your people say to you, 'Will you not tell us what these things mean?' |
| 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.’ | 19tell them, 'This is what the sovereign LORD says: Look, I am about to take the branch of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will place them on the stick of Judah, and make them into one stick--they will be one in my hand.' |
| 20“Then hold out the pieces of wood you have inscribed, so the people can see them. | 20The sticks you write on will be in your hand in front of them. |
| 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. | 21Then tell them, 'This is what the sovereign LORD says: Look, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from round about and bring them to their 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. | 22I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all. They will never again be two nations and never again 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. | 23They will not defile themselves with their idols, their detestable things, and all their rebellious deeds. I will save them from all their unfaithfulness by which they sinned. I will purify them; they will become my people and I will become 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; there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow my regulations and carefully observe my statutes. |
| 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. | 25They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your fathers lived; they will live in it--they and their children and their grandchildren forever. David my servant will be prince over them 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. | 26I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be a perpetual covenant with them. I will establish them, increase their numbers, and place my sanctuary among them forever. |
| 27I will make my home among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. | 27My dwelling place will be with them; 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.” | 28Then, when my sanctuary is among them forever, the nations will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel.'" |
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