The Valley of Dry Bones 1 Brenton And the hand of the Lord came upon me, and the Lord brought me forth by the Spirit, and set me in the midst of the plain, and it was full of human bones. BSB BSB: The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones.
2 Brenton And he led me round about them every way: and, behold, there were very many on the face of the plain, very dry. BSB BSB: He led me all around among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, and indeed, they were very dry.
3 Brenton And he said to me, Son of man, will these bones live? and I said, O Lord God, thou knowest this. BSB BSB: Then He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones come to life?” “O Lord GOD,” I replied, “only You know.”
4 Brenton And he said to me, Prophesy upon these bones, and thou shalt say to them, Ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. BSB BSB: And He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and tell them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!
5 Brenton Thus saith the Lord to these bones; Behold, I will bring upon you the breath of life: BSB BSB: This is what the Lord GOD says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will come to life.
6 Brenton and I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and will spread skin upon you, and will put my Spirit into you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. BSB BSB: I will attach tendons to you and make flesh grow upon you and cover you with skin. I will put breath within you so that you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”
7 Brenton So I prophesied as the Lord commanded me: and it came to pass while I was prophesying, that, behold, there was a shaking, and the bones approached each one to his joint. BSB BSB: So I prophesied as I had been commanded. And as I prophesied, there was suddenly a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone.
8 Brenton And I looked, and, behold, sinews and flesh grew upon them, and skin came upon them above: but there was no breath in them. BSB BSB: As I looked on, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.
9 Brenton And he said to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord; Come from the four winds, and breathe upon these dead men , and let them live. BSB BSB: Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and tell the breath that this is what the Lord GOD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, so that they may live!”
10 Brenton So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath entered into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, a very great congregation. BSB BSB: So I prophesied as He had commanded me, and the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet—a vast army.
11 Brenton And the Lord spoke to me, saying, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: and they say, Our bones are become dry, our hope has perished, we are quite spent. BSB BSB: Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’
13 Brenton And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, that I may bring up my people from their graves. BSB BSB: Then you, My people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.
14 Brenton And I will put my Spirit within you, and ye shall live, and I will place you upon your own land: and ye shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and will do it , saith the Lord. BSB BSB: I 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 will do it, declares the LORD.’”
One Nation with One King 15 Brenton And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, BSB BSB: Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
16 Brenton Son of man, take for thyself a rod, and write upon it, Juda, and the children of Israel his adherents; and thou shalt take for thyself another rod, and thou shalt inscribe it for Joseph, the rod of Ephraim, and all the children of Israel that belong to him. BSB BSB: “And you, son of man, take a single stick and write on it: ‘Belonging to Judah and to the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick and write on it: ‘Belonging to Joseph—the stick of Ephraim—and to all the house of Israel associated with him.’
17 Brenton And thou shalt join them together for thyself, so as that they should bind themselves into one stick; and they shall be in thine hand. BSB BSB: Then join them together into one stick, so that they become one in your hand.
18 Brenton And it shall come to pass, when the children of thy people shall say to thee, Wilt thou not tell us what thou meanest by these things? BSB BSB: When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you explain to us what you mean by these?’
19 Brenton Then shalt thou say to them, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will take the tribe of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel that belong to him, and I will add them to the tribe of Juda, and they shall become one rod in the hand of Juda. BSB BSB: you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will put them together with the stick of Judah. I will make them into a single stick, and they will become one in My hand.’
20 Brenton And the rods on which thou didst write shall be in thine hand in their presence. BSB BSB: When the sticks on which you write are in your hand and in full view of the people,
21 Brenton And thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the whole house of Israel out of the midst of the nations, among whom they have gone, and I will gather them from all that are round about them, and I will bring them into the land of Israel. BSB BSB: you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will take the Israelites out of the nations to which they have gone, and I will gather them from all around and bring them into their own land.
22 Brenton And I will make them a nation in my land, even on the mountains of Israel; and they shall have one prince: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided any more at all into two kingdoms: BSB BSB: I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over all of them. Then they will no longer be two nations and will never again be divided into two kingdoms.
23 Brenton that they may no more defile themselves with their idols; and I will deliver them from all their transgressions whereby they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be to me a people, and I the Lord will be to them a God. BSB BSB: They will no longer defile themselves with their idols or detestable images, or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all their apostasies by which they sinned, and I will cleanse them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.
24 Brenton And my servant David shall be a prince in the midst of them: there shall be one shepherd of them all; for they shall walk in mine ordinances, and keep my judgments, and do them. BSB BSB: My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow My ordinances and keep and observe My statutes.
25 Brenton And they shall dwell in their land, which I have given to my servant Jacob, where their fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell upon it: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever. BSB BSB: They will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They will live there forever with their children and grandchildren, and My servant David will be their prince forever.
26 Brenton And I will make with them a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will establish my sanctuary in the midst of them for ever. BSB BSB: And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary among them forever.
27 Brenton And my tabernacle shall be among them; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be my people. BSB BSB: My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people.
28 Brenton And the nations shall know that I am the Lord that sanctifies them, when my sanctuary is in the midst of them for ever. BSB BSB: Then the nations will know that I the LORD sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is among them forever.’”