1   The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he carried me out by his spirit and put me down in a plain full of bones. 2   He made me go to and fro across them until I had been round them all; ^note they covered the plain, countless numbers of them, and they were very dry. 3   He said to me, ‘Man, can these bones live again?’ I answered, ‘Only thou knowest that, Lord God.’ 4   He said to me, ‘Prophesy over these bones and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5   This is the word of the Lord God to these bones: I will put breath ^note into you, and you shall live. 6   I will fasten sinews on you, bring flesh upon you, overlay you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ 7   I began to prophesy as he had bidden me, and as I prophesied there was a rustling sound and the bones fitted themselves together. 8   As I looked, sinews appeared upon them, flesh covered them, and they were overlaid with skin, but there was no breath in them. 9   Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, man, and say to it, These are the words of the Lord God: Come, O wind, come from every quarter and breathe into these slain, that they may come to life.’ 10   I began to prophesy as he had bidden me: breath came into them; they came to life and rose to their feet, a mighty host. 11   He said to me, ‘Man, these bones are the whole people of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dry, our thread of life is snapped, our web is severed from the loom.” ^note 12   Prophesy, therefore, and say to them, These are the words of the Lord God: O my people, I will open your graves

The remnant of Israel in the land and bring you up from them, and restore you to the land of Israel. 13   You shall know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from them, O my people. 14   Then I will put my spirit ^note into you and you shall live, and I will settle you on your own soil, and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken and will act. This is the very word of the Lord.’

15    16   These were the words of the Lord to me: Man, take one leaf of a wooden tablet and write on it, ‘Judah and his associates of Israel.’ Then take another ^note leaf and write on it, ‘Joseph, the leaf of Ephraim and all his associates of Israel.’ 17   Now bring the two together to form one tablet; then they will be a folding tablet in your hand. 18   When your fellow-countrymen ask you to tell them what you mean by this, 19   say to them, These are the words of the Lord God: I am taking the leaf of Joseph, which belongs to Ephraim and his associate tribes of Israel, and joining ^note to it the leaf of Judah. Thus I shall make them one tablet, and they shall be one in my hand. 20   The leaves on which you write shall be visible in your hand for all to see.

21   Then say to them, These are the words of the Lord God: I am gathering up the Israelites from their places of exile among the nations; I will assemble them from every quarter and restore them to their own soil. 22   I will make them one single nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and they shall have one king; they shall no longer be two nations or divided into two kingdoms. 23   They shall never again be defiled with their idols, their loathsome ways and all their disloyal acts; I will rescue them from all their sinful backsliding ^note and purify them. Thus they shall become my people, and I will become their God. 24   My servant David shall become king over them, and they shall have one shepherd. They shall conform to my laws, they shall observe and carry out my statutes. 25   They shall live in the land which I gave my servant Jacob, the land where your fathers lived. They and their descendants shall live there for ever, and my servant David shall for ever be their prince. 26   I will make a covenant with them to bring them prosperity; this covenant shall be theirs for ever. ^noteI will greatly increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary for ever in their midst. 27   They shall live under the shelter of my dwelling; I will become their God and they shall become my people. 28   The nations shall know that I the Lord am keeping Israel sacred to myself, because my sanctuary is in the midst of them for ever.

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