Day 251 of 364

^37:1The LORD’s hand was on me, and he brought me out in the LORD’s Spirit, and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. ^37:2He caused me to pass by them all around; and behold, there were very many in the open valley, and behold, they were very dry. ^37:3He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I answered, “Lord GOD, you know.” ^37:4Again he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, ‘You dry bones, hear the LORD’s word. ^37:5The Lord GOD says to these bones: “Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you will live. ^37:6I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you will live. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”’” ^37:7So I prophesied as I was commanded. As I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, there was an earthquake. Then the bones came together, bone to its bone. ^37:8I saw, and, behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. ^37:9Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’” ^37:10So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army. ^37:11Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost. We are completely cut off.’ ^37:12Therefore prophesy, and tell them, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. ^37:13You 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. ^37:14I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live. Then I will place you in your own land; and you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it,” says the LORD.’” ^37:15The LORD’s word came again to me, saying, ^37:16“You, son of man, take one 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.’ ^37:17Then join them for yourself to one another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. ^37:18“When the children of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Won’t you show us what you mean by these?’ ^37:19tell them, ‘The Lord GOD says: “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 one stick, and they will be one in my hand. ^37:20The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.”’ ^37:21Say to them, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land. ^37:22I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. One king will be king to them all. They will no longer be two nations. They won’t be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. ^37:23They won’t 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 they will be my people, and I will be their God. ^37:24“‘“My servant David will be king over them. They all will have one shepherd. They will also walk in my ordinances and observe my statutes, and do them. ^37:25They will dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived. They will dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children’s children, forever. David my servant will be their prince forever. ^37:26Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them. It will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will place them, multiply them, and will set my sanctuary among them forever more. ^37:27My tent also will be with them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. ^37:28The nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is among them forever more.”’” ^38:1The LORD’s word came to me, saying, ^38:2“Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, ^38:3and say, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. ^38:4I will turn you around, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords; ^38:5Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; ^38:6Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes—even many peoples with you. ^38:7“‘“Be prepared, yes, prepare yourself, you, and all your companies who are assembled to you, and be a guard to them. ^38:8After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, on the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought out of the peoples and they will dwell securely, all of them. ^38:9You will ascend. You will come like a storm. You will be like a cloud to cover the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.” ^38:10“‘The Lord GOD says: “It will happen in that day that things will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil plan. ^38:11You will say, ‘I will go up to the land of unwalled villages. I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, ^38:12to take the plunder and to take prey; to turn your hand against the waste places that are inhabited, and against the people who are gathered out of the nations, who have gotten livestock and goods, who dwell in the middle of the earth.’ ^38:13Sheba, Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all its young lions, will ask you, ‘Have you come to take the plunder? Have you assembled your company to take the prey, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’”’ ^38:14“Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and tell Gog, ‘The Lord GOD says: “In that day when my people Israel dwells securely, will you not know it? ^38:15You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you, and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army. ^38:16You will come up against my people Israel as a cloud to cover the land. It will happen in the latter days that I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me when I am sanctified in you, Gog, before their eyes.” ^38:17“‘The Lord GOD says: “Are you he of whom I spoke in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for years that I would bring you against them? ^38:18It will happen in that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord GOD, “that my wrath will come up into my nostrils. ^38:19For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath I have spoken. Surely in that day there will be a great shaking in the land of Israel, ^38:20so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals of the field, all creeping things who creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the surface of the earth will shake at my presence. Then the mountains will be thrown down, the steep places will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground. ^38:21I will call for a sword against him to all my mountains,” says the Lord GOD. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother. ^38:22I will enter into judgment with him with pestilence and with blood. I will rain on him, on his hordes, and on the many peoples who are with him, torrential rains with great hailstones, fire, and sulfur. ^38:23I will magnify myself and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”’ ^39:1“You, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. ^39:2I will turn you around, will lead you on, and will cause you to come up from the uttermost parts of the north; and I will bring you onto the mountains of Israel. ^39:3I will strike your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand. ^39:4You will fall on the mountains of Israel, you, and all your hordes, and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to the ravenous birds of every sort and to the animals of the field to be devoured. ^39:5You will fall on the open field, for I have spoken it,” says the Lord GOD. ^39:6“I will send a fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the islands. Then they will know that I am the LORD. ^39:7“‘“I will make my holy name known among my people Israel. I won’t allow my holy name to be profaned any more. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel. ^39:8Behold, it comes, and it will be done,” says the Lord GOD. “This is the day about which I have spoken. ^39:9“‘“Those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and will make fires of the weapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the war clubs and the spears, and they will make fires with them for seven years; ^39:10so that they will take no wood out of the field, and not cut down any out of the forests; for they will make fires with the weapons. They will plunder those who plundered them, and rob those who robbed them,” says the Lord GOD. ^39:11“‘“It will happen in that day, that I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the valley of those who pass through on the east of the sea; and it will stop those who pass through. They will bury Gog and all his multitude there, and they will call it ‘The valley of Hamon Gog’. ^39:12“‘“The house of Israel will be burying them for seven months, that they may cleanse the land. ^39:13Yes, all the people of the land will bury them; and they will become famous in the day that I will be glorified,” says the Lord GOD. ^39:14“‘“They will set apart men of continual employment who will pass through the land. Those who pass through will go with those who bury those who remain on the surface of the land, to cleanse it. After the end of seven months they will search. ^39:15Those who search through the land will pass through; and when anyone sees a man’s bone, then he will set up a sign by it, until the undertakers have buried it in the valley of Hamon Gog. ^39:16Hamonah will also be the name of a city. Thus they will cleanse the land.”’ ^39:17“You, son of man, the Lord GOD says: ‘Speak to the birds of every sort, and to every animal of the field, “Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat meat and drink blood. ^39:18You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. ^39:19You shall eat fat until you are full, and drink blood until you are drunk, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. ^39:20You shall be filled at my table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men, and with all men of war,” says the Lord GOD.’ ^39:21“I will set my glory among the nations. Then all the nations will see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them. ^39:22So the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God, from that day and forward. ^39:23The nations will know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they trespassed against me, and I hid my face from them; so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword. ^39:24I did to them according to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions. I hid my face from them. ^39:25“Therefore the Lord GOD says: ‘Now I will reverse the captivity of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel. I will be jealous for my holy name. ^39:26They will forget their shame and all their trespasses by which they have trespassed against me, when they dwell securely in their land. No one will make them afraid ^39:27when I have brought them back from the peoples, gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am shown holy among them in the sight of many nations. ^39:28They will know that I am the LORD their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them to their own land. Then I will leave none of them captive any more. ^39:29I won’t hide my face from them any more, for I have poured out my Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord GOD.”