Chapter 37
Vision of the Dry Bones.[a] 1 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he carried me away by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley that was full of bones. 2 He made me walk among them in every direction so that I would be aware how great was the number of these bones on the floor of the valley, and they were exceedingly dry.
3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I replied, “Lord God, only you can know that.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I am going to cause breath to enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will put sinews on you and cause flesh to grow over you and cover you with skin. I will put breath within you, and you will live, and you will know that I am the Lord.”
7 Therefore, I prophesied as I had been commanded to do, and as I was prophesying, I heard a noise, a sound of rattling, as the bones came together, bone uniting with bone. 8 As I watched, sinews and flesh grew upon the bones, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the Spirit. Prophesy, son of man, and say to the Spirit: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O Spirit, and breathe into these slain so that they may live.” 10 I prophesied as he had commanded me, and the Spirit entered into them. They came to life and stood on their feet, an immense army.
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They continue to say, ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope has vanished, and we are cut off completely.’ 12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: My people, I am going to open your graves and raise you up from them and bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you up from them, O my people. 14 When I put my Spirit within you, you will live, and I will resettle you on your own soil. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and I have done this, says the Lord.’ ”
15 Union of the Two Sticks.[b] This word of the Lord came to me: 16 Son of man, take a stick and write on it: “Judah and those Israelites associated with him.” Then take another stick and write on it: “Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.” 17 Then join the two sticks together so that they form one stick in your hand.
18 When your countrymen say to you, “Will you not tell us what you mean by this?” 19 say to them: Thus says the Lord God: I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in Ephraim’s hand, and of the tribes of Israel loyal to him, and I will join it to the stick of Judah. I will make them a single stick instead of two, and they shall be one in my hand.
20 When the sticks upon which you have written are held up in your hand for everyone to see, 21 say to them: Thus says the Lord God: I will take the Israelites from the nations among which they have been exiled. I will gather them from every side and bring them back to their land.
22 I will unify them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all. Never again will they be two separate nations, nor will they be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and their loathsome images or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all of their sins of apostasy that they have committed, and I will cleanse them. Thus, they will be my people, and I will be their God.
24 My servant David will be their king, and they all will have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be scrupulous in obeying my statutes. 25 They will live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, the land in which your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and my servant David will be their prince forever.
26 I will make a covenant of peace with them, and I will bless and multiply them and establish my sanctuary among them forever. 27 I will make my dwelling with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel when I establish my sanctuary among them forevermore.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 37:1 In this macabre picture of lifeless bodies being suddenly brought to life by the Spirit of the Lord, Ezekiel’s intention is not to proclaim a resurrection of the dead but to inspire hope in the dejected exiles.
- Ezekiel 37:15 To keep the attention of his hearers, the prophet follows his usual tack and makes a very simple symbolic gesture. This becomes the starting point for a proclamation that applies to the entire world. All the old divisions will be overcome and all the schisms suppressed. This is the renewed covenant with God! Jesus will bring out the full meaning of this prophesied unity when he speaks of a single flock and a single shepherd (Jn 10:1-18; 11:52; Eph 2:11-22); he is Ezekiel’s new David.