Valley of the Dry Bones
Ezekiel 37:1-14
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the
Spirit of the Lord
and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.
He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor
of the valley,
bones that were dry.
He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"
I said, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know."
Then He said to me, "prophesy to these bones and say
to them,
'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!
This is what the the Sovereign Lord says to these bones:
I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.
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 know that I am the Lord.'"
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.
I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them,
but there was no breath in them.
Then He said to me, "prophesy to the
breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it,
'This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
Come from the four winds, O breath and breathe into these slain, that they may
live.'"
So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath entered them;
they came to life and stood up on their feet - a vast army.
Then He said to me: "Son of man,
these bones are the whole house of Israel.
They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.
Therefore prophesy and say to them: This is what
the Sovereign Lord says:
O 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. Then you my people will know that
I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.
I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own
land.
Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and done it, declares the
Lord.'"