BBE - Ezekiel - 37

37:1  The hand of the Lord had been on me, and he took me out in the spirit of the Lord and put me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones;

37:2  And he made me go past them round about: and I saw that there was a very great number of them on the face of the wide valley, and they were very dry.

37:3  And he said to me, Son of man, is it possible for these bones to come to life? And I made answer, and said, It is for you to say, O Lord.

37:4  And again he said to me, Be a prophet to these bones, and say to them, O you dry bones, give ear to the word of the Lord.

37:5  This is what the Lord has said to these bones: See, I will make breath come into you so that you may come to life;

37:6  And I will put muscles on you and make flesh come on you, and put skin over you, and breath into you, so that you may have life; and you will be certain that I am the Lord.

37:7  So I gave the word as I was ordered: and at my words there was a shaking of the earth, and the bones came together, bone to bone.

37:8  And looking I saw that there were muscles on them and flesh came up, and they were covered with skin: but there was no breath in them.

37:9  And he said to me, Be a prophet to the wind, be a prophet, son of man, and say to the wind, The Lord has said: Come from the four winds, O wind, breathing on these dead so that they may come to life.

37:10  And I gave the word at his orders, and breath came into them, and they came to life and got up on their feet, a very great army.

37:11  Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are all the children of Israel: and see, they are saying, Our bones have become dry our hope is gone, we are cut off completely.

37:12  For this cause be a prophet to them, and say, This is what the Lord has said: See, I am opening the resting-places of your dead, and I will make you come up out of your resting-places, O my people; and I will take you into the land of Israel.

37:13  And you will be certain that I am the Lord by my opening the resting-places of your dead and making you come up out of your resting-places, O my people.

37:14  And I will put my spirit in you, so that you may come to life, and I will give you a rest in your land: and you will be certain that I the Lord have said it and have done it, says the Lord.

37:15  And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

37:16  And you, son of man, take one stick, writing on it, For Judah and for the children of Israel who are in his company: then take another stick, writing on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the children of Israel who are in his company:

37:17  Then, joining them one to another, make them one stick, so that they may be one in your hand.

37:18  And when the children of your people say to you, Will you not make clear to us what these things have to do with us?

37:19  Then say to them, This is what the Lord has said: See, I am taking the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel who are in his company; and I will put it on the stick of Judah and make them one stick, and they will be one in my hand.

37:20  And the sticks with your writing on them will be in your hand before their eyes.

37:21  And say to them, These are the words of the Lord: See, I am taking the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and will get them together on every side, and take them into their land:

37:22  And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king over them all: and they will no longer be two nations, and will no longer be parted into two kingdoms:

37:23  And they will no longer make themselves unclean with their images or with their hated things or with any of their sins: but I will give them salvation from all their turning away in which they have done evil, and will make them clean; and they will be to me a people, and I will be to them a God.

37:24  And my servant David will be king over them; and they will all have one keeper: and they will be guided by my orders and will keep my rules and do them.

37:25  And they will be living in the land which I gave to Jacob, my servant, in which your fathers were living; and they will go on living there, they and their children and their children's children, for ever: and David, my servant, will be their ruler for ever.

37:26  And I will make an agreement of peace with them: it will be an eternal agreement with them: and I will have mercy on them and make their numbers great, and will put my holy place among them for ever.

37:27  And my House will be over them; and I will be to them a God, and they will be to me a people.

37:28  And the nations will be certain that I who make Israel holy am the Lord, when my holy place is among them for ever.