The Valley of Dry Bones
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1The hand of the LORD was upon me, and 2he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley;a it was full of bones.
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And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.
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Then he said to me, 6"Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, 7O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
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Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause 8breathb to enter you, and you shall live.
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9And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and 10cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, 11and you shall know that I am the LORD."
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So I prophesied 12as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, 13a rattling,c and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
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And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But 14there was no breath in them.
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Then he said to me, 15"Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, 16son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from 17the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."
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So I prophesied 18as he commanded me, and 19the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
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Then he said to me, 20"Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and 21our hope is lost; 22we are indeed cut off.'
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Therefore 23prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, 24I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And 25I will bring you into the land of Israel.
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And 26you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.
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And 27I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; 28I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD."
I Will Be Their God, They Shall Be My People
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The word of the LORD came to me:
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29"Son of man, 30take a stickd and write on it, 'For 31Judah, and 32the people of Israel associated with him'; then take another stick and write on it, 'For 33Joseph (the stick of 34Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.'
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say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am about to take 40the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the 41stick of Judah,e and 42make them one stick, 43that they may be one in my hand.
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When the sticks on which you write are in your hand 44before their eyes,
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then say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, 45I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and 46bring them to their own land.
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And 47I will make them one nation in the land, on 48the mountains of Israel. And 49one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer 50two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms.
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51They shall not 52defile themselves anymore 53with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But 54I will save them from all the backslidingsf in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and 55they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
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"My servant 56David 57shall be king over them, and they shall all have 58one shepherd. 59They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes.
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60They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there 61forever, and David my servant shall be their prince 62forever.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)