The Valley of Dry Bones

1The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones; 2And he caused me to pass by them round about: and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and lo, they were very dry. 3And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. 4Again he said unto me, Prophesy over these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live. 6And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

7So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold an earthquake, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 8And I beheld, and lo, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. 9Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10So I prophesied as he commanded me; and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

The Vision Explained

11Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off. 12Therefore prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, O my people. 14And I will put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and ye shall know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.

One Nation with One King

15The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 16And thou, son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: 17and join them for thee one to another into one stick, that they may become one in thine hand. 18And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? 19say unto them, Thus saith 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, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. 20And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. 21And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 22and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: 23neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

24And my servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. 25And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children's children, for ever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever. 26Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them: it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 27My tabernacle also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28And the nations shall know that I am the LORD that sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.