1 The 1hand of the LORD was upon me, and He 2brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the 3valley; and it was full of bones.
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He caused me to passamong them roundabout, and behold, there were verymany on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were verydry.
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He said to me, "Son of man, 4can theseboneslive?" And I answered, "O LordGOD, 5You know."
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Again He said to me, "6Prophesyoverthesebones and say to them, 'O drybones, 7hear the word of the LORD.'
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"Thussays the LordGOD to thesebones, 'Behold, I will cause 8breath to enter you that you may come to life.
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'I will putsinews on you, make fleshgrowback on you, cover you with skin and putbreath in you that you may comealive; and you will 9know that I am the LORD.' "
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So I prophesied10as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bonescametogether, bone to its bone.
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And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and fleshgrew and skincovered* them; but there was nobreath in them.
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Then He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thussays the LordGOD, "Come from the fourwinds, O breath, and 11breathe on theseslain, that they 12come to life.""'
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So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the 13breathcame into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an 14exceedinglygreatarmy.
The Vision Explained
11 Then He said to me, "Son of man, thesebones are the 15wholehouse of Israel; behold, they say, 'Our 16bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely 17cutoff.'
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"Thereforeprophesy and say to them, 'Thussays the LordGOD, "Behold, I will open your graves and 18cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.
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"Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people.
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"I will 19put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it," declares the LORD.' "
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"And you, son of man, take for yourself 20onestick and write on it, 'For 21Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions '; then takeanotherstick and write on it, 'For 22Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.'
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"Then 23join them for yourself one to another into onestick, that they may becomeone in your hand.
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"When the sons of your peoplespeak to you saying, 'Will you not declare to us 24what you mean by these?'
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say to them, 'Thussays the LordGOD, "Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them onestick, and they will be one in My hand."'
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"The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.
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"Say to them, 'Thussays the LordGOD, "Behold, I will 25take the sons of Israel from among the nationswhere* they have gone, and I will gather them from everyside and bring them into their own land;
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and I will make them 26onenation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and 27oneking will be king for all of them; and they will nolonger be twonations and nolonger be divided into twokingdoms.
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"They will 28nolongerdefile themselves with their idols, or with their detestablethings, or with any of their transgressions; but 29I will deliver them from all their dwellingplaces in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God.
The Davidic Kingdom
24 "My servant30David will be kingover them, and they will allhave31oneshepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them.
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"They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fatherslived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons'sons, forever*; and 32David My servant will be their princeforever.
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"I will make a 33covenant of peace with them; it will be an 34everlastingcovenant with them. And I will place them and 35multiply them, and will set My 36sanctuary in their midstforever.
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"My 37dwellingplace also will be with them; and 38I will be their God, and they will be My people.
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"And the nations will know that I am the LORD39who sanctifiesIsrael, when My sanctuary is in their midstforever.""'