1 The hand of the LORD came upon me; he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones.
2 He led me back and forth among them all around; there were a great many of them on the floor of the valley, and they were very dry.
3 He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "Lord GOD, you know."
4 He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones and tell them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
5 Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: I am going to make breath enter you, and you will live.
6 I will lay sinews on you, bring flesh up on you, cover you over with skin and put breath in you, and you will live; and you shall know that I am the LORD.'"
7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded. While I was prophesying there was a noise, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, each bone to its bone.
8 As I watched, sinews appeared on them, flesh came up, and skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, Son of man, and tell the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, breath, and blow into these slain, so that they may live."
10 I prophesied as he had commanded me, and the breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet, a vast, vast army.
11 Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They are saying, 'Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone; we are cut off completely.'
12 So prophesy and tell them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am going to open your graves and bring you up out of your graves, my people, and bring you to the land of Israel.
13 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up out of your graves, my people.
14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live, and I will settle you on your own soil. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and will do it, declares the LORD."
15 The word of the LORD came to me:
16 "You, Son of man, take a stick and write on it, 'For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.' Then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.'
17 Then bring them together, one to the other, into a single stick, so that they become one in your hand.
18 When the sons of your people ask you, 'Won't you tell us what you mean by these?'
19 tell them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am going to take the stick of Joseph that is in Ephraim's hand, and the tribes of Israel, his companions, and join them to it, to the stick of Judah, and make them a single stick; they will be one in my hand.
20 Hold the sticks you have written on in your hand before their eyes,
21 and tell them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am going to take the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, gather them from all around and bring them to their own soil.
22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will be king over all of them; they will no longer be two nations or be split into two kingdoms ever again.
23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, their vile things or any of their transgressions. I will save them from all their dwelling places where they sinned and cleanse them, and 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 walk in my judgments and keep my statutes and carry them out.
25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived; they and their sons and their sons' sons will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever.
26 I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant it will be with them. I will establish them and multiply them and put my sanctuary in their midst forever.
27 My tabernacle will be over them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.
28 Then the nations shall know that I am the LORD who makes Israel holy, when my sanctuary is in their midst forever."