The Valley of Dry Bones
1The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
4Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath37:5 The Hebrew for this word can also mean wind or spirit (see verses 6-14). enter you, and you will come to life. 6I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”
7So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ” 10So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’ ”
One Nation Under One King
15The word of the Lord came to me: 16“Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’ 17Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.
18“When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’ 19say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’ 20Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on 21and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. 22I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. 23They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding,37:23 Many Hebrew manuscripts (see also Septuagint); most Hebrew manuscripts all their dwelling places where they sinned and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
24“ ‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. 25They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. 26I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. 27My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’ ”
枯骨复活
1耶和华的手按在我身上，耶和华借祂的灵把我带到一个山谷，那里遍地都是骸骨。 2祂领我在骸骨间走了一圈，我看到谷中的骸骨相当多，都是枯骨。 3祂对我说：“人子啊，这些骸骨能复活吗？”我说：“主耶和华啊，只有你知道。” 4祂又对我说：“你对这些骸骨说预言，‘枯骨啊，你们要听耶和华说的话！ 5主耶和华对这些骸骨说：我要使气息进入你们里面，你们就必复活过来。 6我必给你们加上筋，使你们长出肉，再包上皮，将气息放在你们里面，你们就复活了。这样，你们就知道我是耶和华。’”
7于是，我便按耶和华的吩咐向枯骨说预言，我正说预言的时候，忽然有响声，是震动的声音，骨头便彼此连在了一起。 8我又看见骨头上有了筋，长了肉，包上了皮，只是还没有气息。 9耶和华对我说：“人子啊，你要向气息37:9 “气息”希伯来文又作“灵”，“风”。说预言，告诉气息，主耶和华这样说，‘气息啊，从四方吹来，吹在这些被杀的人身上，使他们复活。’” 10于是，我便按耶和华的吩咐说预言，气息就进入他们里面，他们便复活了，并且站立起来，成为一支大军。
11耶和华对我说：“人子啊，这些骸骨就是所有的以色列人。他们说，‘我们骨头枯干，希望幻灭，彻底完了。’ 12因此，你要说预言，告诉他们，‘主耶和华说：我的子民啊，我要打开你们的坟墓，领你们出来，我要领你们返回以色列。 13我的子民啊，当我这样做的时候，你们就知道我是耶和华。 14我要把我的灵放在你们里面，使你们复活，安居在自己的土地上，那时你们就知道我耶和华言出必行。这是耶和华说的。’”
15耶和华对我说： 16“人子啊，你拿一根杖来，写上‘犹大和他的以色列同伴’，然后再拿另一根杖，写上‘约瑟，即以法莲，与他的以色列同伴’。 17然后把这两根杖连成一根，拿在手中。 18当你的同胞问你这是什么意思时， 19你就告诉他们，主耶和华这样说，‘我要把约瑟和他的以色列同伴的杖，就是以法莲手中的杖，与犹大的杖连接在一起，在我手中成为一根。’ 20你要拿着这两根写着字的杖让他们看， 21告诉他们，主耶和华这样说，‘我要把以色列人从他们流亡的列国领出来，从四围招聚他们，带他们回归故土。 22我要使他们在以色列的土地和群山上成为一国，只有一位王统治他们，不再是两个国家，不再分为两个王国。 23他们不会再因偶像、可憎之物或任何过犯而玷污自己，我要从他们犯罪的地方把他们救出来，洗净他们的罪。他们要做我的子民，我要做他们的上帝。
24“‘我的仆人大卫要做王治理他们，成为他们唯一的牧人。他们必恪守我的典章，谨遵我的律例。 25他们要安居在我赐给我仆人雅各的土地上，就是你们祖先居住的地方。他们世世代代都要永远居住在那里，我仆人大卫要永远做他们的王。 26我要与他们订立平安之约，是永远的约，使他们安居，人丁兴旺，并且我的圣所要永远设立在他们当中。 27我要住在他们中间。我要做他们的上帝，他们要做我的子民。 28我的圣所永远设立在他们当中之时，列国便会知道我耶和华使以色列圣洁。’”
