The valley of dry bones
37:1God gave Ezekiel this vision about the future of Israel.
1 The Lord took hold of me with great power. In a vision, the Lord's Spirit took me to the middle of a valley. Bones covered all the ground there. 2 The Lord made me walk up and down among the bones. I could see many bones there, on the ground in the valley. They were completely dry.
3 He asked me, ‘Son of man, can these bones become alive again?’
I said, ‘Almighty Lord, only you know the answer.’
4 Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones. Say to them, “Dry bones, listen to the Lord's message! 5 This is what the Almighty Lord says to you bones: Listen! I will put breath into you and you will become alive. 6 I will join you together and I will put meat on you. I will cover you with skin. I will put breath into you and you will become alive. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ’
37:6The Hebrew word that means breath also means wind or spirit.
7 So I prophesied, as the Lord had commanded me to do. While I was still speaking, there was a noise. It was the sound of the bones as they knocked against each other when they joined together. 8 While I watched, I saw meat come and join to the bones. Then skin covered them. But there was no breath in them yet.
9 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Prophesy to the wind, son of man. Speak my message to the wind. Say, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: Blow from all directions and put breath into these dead bodies! Cause them to become alive again.” ’
10 So I spoke the message that the Lord had commanded me to speak. Breath went into those dead bodies and they became alive. They stood up on their feet. They were as many as a great army.
11 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones are a picture of all Israel's people. The Israelites are saying, “Our bones are dead and dry. There are no good things that we can hope for. We have come to an end.” 12 So prophesy and say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: Listen, my people! I will soon open up your graves. I will bring you out of your graves. I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 When that happens to you, my people, you will know that I am the Lord. 14 I will put the breath of my Spirit in you, and you will become alive. I will let you live safely in your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken. You will know that I have done what I said I would do. That is what the Lordsays.” ’
37:14The Lord is promising that he will bring his people back from exile in Babylon. As prisoners in Babylon, the Israelites think that they have no hope for good things in the future. They are like bones that are dead and dry. But God promises to give them new life.
