Hebrew Names Version HNV
The Message Bible MSG
1 The hand of the LORD was on me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
1
God grabbed me. God's Spirit took me up and sat me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones.
2 He caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, behold, they were very dry.
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He led me around and among them - a lot of bones! There were bones all over the plain - dry bones, bleached by the sun.
3 He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? I answered, Lord GOD, you know.
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He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "Master God, only you know that."
4 Again he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, you dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
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He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones: 'Dry bones, listen to the Message of God!'"
5 Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.
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God, the Master, told the dry bones, "Watch this: I'm bringing the breath of life to you and you'll come to life.
6 I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the LORD.
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I'll attach sinews to you, put meat on your bones, cover you with skin, and breathe life into you. You'll come alive and you'll realize that I am God!"
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and, behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
7
I prophesied just as I'd been commanded. As I prophesied, there was a sound and, oh, rustling! The bones moved and came together, bone to bone.
8 I saw, and, behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.
8
I kept watching. Sinews formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin stretched over them. But they had no breath in them.
9 Then said he to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.
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He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath, 'God, the Master, says, Come from the four winds. Come, breath. Breathe on these slain bodies. Breathe life!'"
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceeding great army.
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So I prophesied, just as he commanded me. The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army.
11 Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Yisra'el: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.
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Then God said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they're saying: 'Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there's nothing left of us.'
12 Therefore prophesy, and tell them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into Eretz-Yisra'el.
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"Therefore, prophesy. Tell them, 'God, the Master, says: I'll dig up your graves and bring you out alive - O my people! Then I'll take you straight to the land of Israel.
13 You shall 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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When I dig up graves and bring you out as my people, you'll realize that I am God.
14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it, says the LORD.
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I'll breathe my life into you and you'll live. Then I'll lead you straight back to your land and you'll realize that I am God. I've said it and I'll do it. God's Decree.'"
15 The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,
15
God's Message came to me:
16 You, son of man, take one stick, and write on it, For Yehudah, and for the children of Yisra'el his companions: then take another stick, and write on it, For Yosef, the stick of Efrayim, and [for] all the house of Yisra'el his companions:
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"You, son of man: Take a stick and write on it, 'For Judah, with his Israelite companions.' Then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph - Ephraim's stick, together with all his Israelite companions.'
17 and join them for you one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.
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Then tie the two sticks together so that you're holding one stick.
18 When the children of your people shall speak to you, saying, Will you not show us what you mean by these?
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"When your people ask you, 'Are you going to tell us what you're doing?'
19 tell them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the stick of Yosef, which is in the hand of Efrayim, and the tribes of Yisra'el his companions; and I will put them with it, [even] with the stick of Yehudah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand.
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tell them, 'God, the Master, says, Watch me! I'll take the Joseph stick that is in Ephraim's hand, with the tribes of Israel connected with him, and lay the Judah stick on it. I'll make them into one stick. I'm holding one stick.'
20 The sticks whereon you write shall be in your hand before their eyes.
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"Then take the sticks you've inscribed and hold them up so the people can see them.
21 Say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the children of Yisra'el from among the nations, where they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
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Tell them, 'God, the Master, says, Watch me! I'm taking the Israelites out of the nations in which they've been exiled. I'll gather them in from all directions and bring them back home.
22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Yisra'el; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all;
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I'll make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and give them one king - one king over all of them. Never again will they be divided into two nations, two kingdoms.
23 neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
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Never again will they pollute their lives with their no-god idols and all those vile obscenities and rebellions. I'll save them out of all their old sinful haunts. I'll clean them up. They'll be my people! I'll be their God!
24 My servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them.
24
My servant David will be king over them. They'll all be under one shepherd.
25 They shall dwell in the land that I have given to Ya`akov my servant, in which your fathers lived; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children's children, forever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever.
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They'll live in the same land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren will live there forever, and my servant David will be their prince forever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of shalom with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore.
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I'll make a covenant of peace with them that will hold everything together, an everlasting covenant. I'll make them secure and place my holy place of worship at the center of their lives forever.
27 My tent also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
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I'll live right there with them. I'll be their God! They'll be my people!
28 The nations shall know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Yisra'el, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore.
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"'The nations will realize that I, God, make Israel holy when my holy place of worship is established at the center of their lives forever.'"
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.