The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 With the hand of ADONAI upon me, ADONAI carried me out by his Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones.
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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;
2 He had me pass by all around them - there were so many bones lying in the valley, and they were so dry!
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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.
3 He asked me, "Human being, can these bones live?" I answered, "Adonai ELOHIM! Only you know that!"
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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.
4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones! Say to them, 'Dry bones! Hear what ADONAI has to say!
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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.
5 To these bones Adonai ELOHIM says, "I will make breath enter you, and you will live.
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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;
6 I will attach ligaments to you, make flesh grow on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you. You will live, and you will know that I am ADONAI."'"
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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.
7 So I prophesied as ordered; and while I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound; it was the bones coming together, each bone in its proper place.
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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.
8 As I watched, ligaments grew on them, flesh appeared and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.
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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.
9 Next he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath! Prophesy, human being! Say to the breath that Adonai ELOHIM says, 'Come from the four winds, breath; and breathe on these slain, so that they can live.'"
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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.
10 So I prophesied as ordered, and the breath came into them, and they were alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army!
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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.
11 Then he said to me, "Human being! These bones are the whole house of Isra'el; and they are saying, 'Our bones have dried up, our hope is gone, and we are completely cut off.'
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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.
12 Therefore prophesy; say to them that Adonai ELOHIM says, 'My people! I will open your graves and make you get up out of your graves, and I will bring you into the land of Isra'el.
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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.
13 Then you will know that I am ADONAI - when I have opened your graves and made you get up out of your graves, my people!
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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.
14 I will put my Spirit in you; and you will be alive. Then I will place you in your own land; and you will know that I, ADONAI, have spoken, and that I have done it,' says ADONAI."
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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.
15 The word of ADONAI came to me:
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And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
16 "You, human being, take one stick and write on it, 'For Y'hudah and those joined with him [among] the people of Isra'el.' Next, take another stick and write on it, 'For Yosef, the stick of Efrayim, and all the house of Isra'el who are joined with him.'
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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:
17 Finally, bring them together into a single stick, so that they become one in your hand.
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Then, joining them one to another, make them one stick, so that they may be one in your hand.
18 When your people ask you what all this means,
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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?
19 tell them that Adonai ELOHIM says this: 'I will take the stick of Yosef, which is in the hand of Efrayim, together with the tribes of Isra'el who are joined with him, and put them together with the stick of Y'hudah and make them a single stick, so that they become one in my hand.'
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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.
20 The sticks on which you write are to be in your hand as they watch.
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And the sticks with your writing on them will be in your hand before their eyes.
21 Then say to them that Adonai ELOHIM says: 'I will take the people of Isra'el from among the nations where they have gone and gather them from every side and bring them back to their own land.
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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:
22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Isra'el; and one king will be king for all of them. They will no longer be two nations, and they will never again be divided into two kingdoms.
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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:
23 "'They will never again defile themselves with their idols, their detestable things, or any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all the places where they have been living and sinning; and I will cleanse them, so that they will be my people, and I will be their God.
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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.
24 My servant David will be king over them, and all of them will have one shepherd; they will live by my rulings and keep and observe my regulations.
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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.
25 They will live in the land I gave to Ya'akov my servant, where your ancestors lived; they will live there - they, their children, and their grandchildren, forever; and David my servant will be their leader forever.
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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.
26 I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give to them, increase their numbers, and set my sanctuary among them forever.
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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.
27 My home will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.
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And my House will be over them; and I will be to them a God, and they will be to me a people.
28 The nations will know that I am ADONAI, who sets Isra'el apart as holy, when my sanctuary is with them forever.'"
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And the nations will be certain that I who make Israel holy am the Lord, when my holy place is among them for ever.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.