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37 [1] **The hand of the Lord was upon me, **prophecy rested upon me,** and He took me out by the spirit of the Lord, and He set me down in the midst of the valley **or plain.** **The reference is to a prophetic vision, not necessarily to an actual journey.** And it, **the valley, **was full of **human** bones. **
[2] **He passed me over them all around, and behold, they, **the bones, **were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.** These were old bones, of people who had died long before.** **
[3] **He said to me: Son of man, will these bones live? I said, **as a prophet should:** Lord God, **only **You know. **I am aware that there is no natural way to revive them; however, what will be in practice is completely dependent on Your will and infinite power.
[4] **He said to me: Prophesy concerning these bones, and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. **
[5] **So said the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I am bringing **the** spirit **of life back **into you**,** and you will live. **
[6] This will be the process: **I will put sinews upon you, and I will bring up flesh upon you, and I will cover you with skin, and I will put a spirit into you, and you will live **as living people,** and you will know that I am the Lord. **
[7] **I prophesied as I was commanded, **saying that which I was commanded to say, either shouting or in another way that a prophet prophesies,** and there was a sound as I prophesied, and behold, **there was** a noise, and the bones drew near, each** **bone to its **corresponding **bone** in that body. Whether the bodies belonged to people who had died naturally or people who had been killed, some of the bones had become scattered over time. The scattered bones began to reconfigure into their original positions, once again forming skeletons.
[8] **I saw, and behold, there were sinews **that had grown** upon them, **to connect the bones to muscles,** and flesh came up, and skin covered them from above. **The bones had been transformed into complete human corpses, **but there was no spirit **of life** in them. **
[9] **He **then **said to me: Prophesy concerning the spirit; prophesy, Son of man, and say to the spirit: So said the Lord God: Come from four directions, spirit, and blow into these slain, and they will live. **
[10] **I **again** prophesied as He commanded me, and the spirit came into them and they lived, and they stood on their feet,**** **and** **they were **an exceedingly great host, **a great army of people.
[11] The prophecy now presents the vision of the revival of the bones as a parable for the nation of Israel: **He said to me: Son of man, these bones are **representative of** the entire house of Israel. Behold, they say: Our bones have dried up, and our hope has been lost; we have been excised **from the world.
[12] **Therefore, prophesy and say to them: So said the Lord God: Behold, I am opening your graves, and I will take you up from your graves, My people, and I will bring you to the soil of Israel. **
[13] **You will know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and when I take you up from your graves, My people. **
[14] **I will put My spirit into you and you will live, and I will set you on your land, and you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and acted – the utterance of the Lord. **
[15] **The word of the Lord was with me, saying: **
[16] **You, Son of man, take for you one piece of wood**, large or small,** and write on it: For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions, **the tribes aligned with him: Benjamin, Simeon, and Levi. **And take one **other** piece of wood and write on it: For Joseph, the wood of Ephraim, **the primary tribe of Joseph,** and all the house of Israel, his companions, **referring to all the rest of the tribes aligned with Ephraim. The two pieces of wood symbolize the two kingdoms: Judah and Israel.
[17] **Draw them near, one to another, **so the two pieces of wood will be **as one piece of wood for you, and they will be as** **one in your hand**.
[18] **When the members of your people, **who see the pieces of wood in your hand,** say to you, saying: Won’t you tell us what these are to you? **What is the significance of the two pieces of wood that you are holding?
[19] **Speak to them, **saying:** So said the Lord God: Behold, I am taking the wood of Joseph that is in the hand, **under** **the control, **of **the tribe of** Ephraim and the tribes of Israel, his companions, and I will place them, **these tribes,** with him, **with the wood of Joseph, and **with** **the wood of Judah,** the tribes will come to Judah, **and I will make them as one piece of wood, and they will **unite and** be one in My hand. **
[20] **The pieces of wood upon which you will write will be in your hand, before their eyes. **As part of your prophecy, hold the pieces of wood and show them to the people.
[21] **Speak to them, **and say:** So said the Lord God: Behold, I am taking the children of Israel from among the nations to which they went, and I will gather them from all around, and I will bring them to their land. **The Jewish people will return from exile.
[22] **I will make them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel,**** and one king will be king for all of them, and they will no longer be two nations, and they will not be divided anymore into two kingdoms, ever.** Ezekiel lived after an extended period during which the kingdoms of Judah and Israel were separated. Relations between them waxed and waned over the course of the generations, and, occasionally, they even waged war against each other. Ezekiel declares that the nation of Israel will return to its land and become one kingdom again.
[23] This renewal and unity will also exist in the spiritual realm: **They will no longer be defiled with their idols and with their repugnant objects and with all their transgressions, and I will save them from **everything that attached to them in** all their dwellings in which they sinned, and I will purify them. They will be My people, and I will be their God. **
[24] With regard to the leadership, the prophet declares: **My servant David will be king over them, **referring** **either to David himself after the resurrection of the dead, or to one of his descendants,** and there will be one shepherd, **one leader,** for all of them, and they will follow My ordinances and observe My statutes and perform them. **
[25] **They will dwell in the land that I gave to My servant, to Jacob, in which your fathers dwelled. They will dwell in it, they and their children and their children’s children, forever. David, My servant, will be their prince forever. **The title prince [*nasi*] refers to the individual with the most elevated [*menusa*] status among the people. It is a synonym for king.** **
[26] **I will establish a covenant of peace with them; it will be an eternal covenant with them. I will situate them **in their land**,**** and I will multiply them, and I will place My Sanctuary in their midst forever. **There will be no additional destruction.
[27] **My dwelling place will be among them; I will be their God, and they will be My people. **
[28] **The nations will **also** know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel when My Sanctuary is in their midst forever. **Israel will be unified, and one king will lead it, presiding over the kingdom of heaven on earth.
Version: The Steinsaltz Tanakh - English
Source: https://korenpub.com/collections/the-steinsaltz-tanakh/products/steinsaltz-tanakh
License: Copyright: Steinsaltz Center