| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1The LORD laid his hand on me and brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD to the middle of a valley that was 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 here and there throughout the valley, and I was amazed to see that the surface of the entire valley was covered with myriads of very dry bones! | 2He made me walk all around among them. I realized there were a great many bones in the valley and they were very dry. |
| 3The LORD asked me, "Son of Man, will these bones ever live?" "Lord GOD," I replied, "you 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 the LORD told me, "Prophesy to these bones. Tell them: 'You dry bones, listen to the message from 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 Lord GOD says to you dry bones! 'Pay attention! I'm bringing my Spirit into you right now, and you're going to live! | 5This is what the sovereign LORD says to these bones: Look, I am about to infuse breath into you and you will live. |
| 6I'm going to grow tendons on you, regenerate your flesh, cover you with skin, and make you breathe again so that you can come back to life and learn 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 prophesied, just as I had been ordered to do so. Immediately there was a noise and a rattling—and then all of a sudden the bones came together by themselves! Each bone came together, all of them attached together! | 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. |
| 8As I continued to watch, I saw tendons growing on the bones, and muscles growing and covering them, and then skin covered the flesh from above. But the bodies weren't breathing. | 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 ordered me, "Prophesy to the Spirit, Son of Man. Tell the Spirit, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Come from the four winds, you Spirit, and breathe into these people who have been killed, so they will live."'" | 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 prophesied as I had been ordered, breath entered them, and they began to live. They stood on their own feet as a vast, united 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. |
| 11"These bones represent the entire house of Israel," the LORD explained to me. "Look how they keep saying, 'Our bones are dried up, and our future is lost. We've been completely eliminated!' | 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.' |
| 12"Therefore prophesy to them, and tell them, 'Watch me! I'm going to open your graves, lift you out of those graves, and bring my people back into 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. |
| 13Then you'll learn that I am the LORD, when I've opened your graves and caused you to come up out of them, my people. | 13Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. |
| 14I'm going to place my Spirit in you all, and you will live. I'll place you all into your land, and you'll learn that I, the LORD, have been speaking and doing this,' declares the LORD.'" | 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.'" |
| 15A message came to me from the LORD, and this is what it was: | 15The word of the LORD came to me: |
| 16"Now as for you, Son of Man, grab a stick of wood for yourself and write on it these words: 'FOR JUDAH AND THE ISRAELIS, HIS COMPANIONS' "Then grab another stick and write on it: 'FOR JOSEPH, THE STICK OF EPHRAIM, AND ALL THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, HIS COMPANIONS' | 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.' |
| 17"Then join them together end-to-end so that they become a single baton in your hand. | 17Join them as one stick; they will be as one in your hand. |
| 18When the descendants of your people ask you, 'Would you please explain to us what you mean by this?' | 18When your people say to you, 'Will you not tell us what these things mean?' |
| 19you are to tell them, 'This is what the LORD says: "Watch me! I'm taking the baton that represents Joseph, which Ephraim is holding in his hand, along with his companions the tribes of Israel, and I'm going to join them with the baton that represents Judah. I'm making them a single baton, that is, a complete baton 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"The batons on which you engrave your writing are to remain right in front of them in your hand. | 20The sticks you write on will be in your hand in front of them. |
| 21Then tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Watch me take the Israelis out of the nations where they've gone and return them from every direction. I'm going to bring them back into their own land. | 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'm going to make them a united people in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and I'll set a single king to rule over them. They'll never again be two separate people. They'll never again be divided 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 defile themselves with their idols, with other loathsome things, or with any of their sins. Instead, I will deliver them from all of the places where they have sinned, and then I'll cleanse them. They will 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 King David will be there for them, and one shepherd will be appointed for them. They will live according to my decrees, keep my regulations, and practice them. | 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 that I gave to my servant Jacob and on which your ancestors lived. They will live in that land, along with their children and grandchildren, forever. David my servant will be their everlasting leader. | 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. |
| 26I'll make a secure covenant with them, one that will last forever. I will establish them, make them increase in population, and will place my sanctuary in their midst 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 pitch my tent among them and will be their God. They will be my people, | 27My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. |
| 28and the nations will learn that I, the LORD, am the sanctifier of Israel when I place my sanctuary in their midst forever."'" | 28Then, when my sanctuary is among them forever, the nations will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel.'" |
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