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The power of the Lord came on me. His Spirit brought me away from my home. He put me down in the middle of a valley. It was full of bones. 2 He led me to and fro among them. I saw a huge number of bones in the valley. The bones were very dry. 3 The Lord asked me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘Lord and King, you are the only one who knows.’
4 Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones. Tell them, “Dry bones, listen to the Lord's message. 5 The Lord and King speaks to you. He says, ‘I will put breath in you. Then you will come to life again. 6 I will attach tendons to you. I will put flesh on you. I will cover you with skin. So I will put breath in you. And you will come to life again. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ” ’
7 So I prophesied just as the Lord commanded me to. As I was prophesying, I heard a noise. It was a rattling sound. The bones came together. One bone connected itself to another. 8 I saw tendons and flesh appear on them. Skin covered them. But there was no breath in them.
9 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell it, “The Lord and King says, ‘Breath, come from all four directions. Go into these people who have been killed. Then they can live.’ ” ’ 10 So I prophesied just as he commanded me to. And breath entered them. Then they came to life again. They stood up on their feet. They were like a huge army.
11 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones stand for all the people of Israel. The people say, “Our bones are dried up. We've lost all hope. We are destroyed.” 12 So prophesy. Tell them, “The Lord and King says, ‘My people, I am going to open up your graves. I am going to bring you out of them. I will take you back to the land of Israel. 13 So I will open up your graves and bring you out of them. Then you will know that I am the Lord. You are my people. 14 I will put my Spirit in you. And you will live again. I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I have spoken. I have done it,’ announces the Lord.” ’
15 A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, 16 ‘Son of man, get a stick of wood. Write on it, “Belonging to the tribe of Judah and the Israelites who are connected with it.” Then get another stick. Write on it, “Ephraim's stick. Belonging to the tribes of Joseph and all the Israelites connected with them.” 17 Join them together into one stick in your hand.
18 ‘Your people will ask you, “What do you mean by this?” 19 Tell them, “The Lord and King says, ‘I am going to get the stick of Joseph and the Israelites connected with it. That stick is in Ephraim's hand. I am going to join it to Judah's stick. I will make them a single stick of wood in my hand.’ ” 20 Show them the sticks you wrote on. 21 Tell them, “The Lord and King says, ‘I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them together from all around. I will bring them back to their own land. 22 There I will make them one nation. They will live on the mountains of Israel. All of them will have one king. They will never be two nations again. They will never again be separated into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer make themselves “unclean” by worshipping any of their evil gods. They will not do wrong things anymore. They always turn away from me. But I will save them from that sin. I will make them pure and “clean”. They will be my people. And I will be their God.
24 ‘ “ ‘A man who belongs to the family line of my servant David will be their king. All of them will have one shepherd. They will obey my laws. And they will be careful to keep my rules. 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob. That is where your people of long ago lived. They, their children, their children's children, and their children after them will live there for ever. And my servant from David's family line will be their prince for ever. 26 I will make a covenant with them. It promises to give them peace. The covenant will last for ever. I will make them my people. And I will cause there to be many of them. I will put my temple among them for ever. 27 I will live with them. I will be their God. And they will be my people. 28 My temple will be among them for ever. Then the nations will know that I make Israel holy. I am the Lord.’ ” ’
33:1–37:28 After God appointed Ezekiel to be a prophet, he stopped Ezekiel from being able to talk. Ezekiel was only to speak when sharing messages from God. God would allow Ezekiel to be able to talk normally again after important news reached him. That news came seven years later. It was the news that Jerusalem had been destroyed by Babylon. During those seven years Ezekiel had faithfully shared God's messages with the Jews in Babylon. He had tried to get them to change their ways. The Jews had finally recognised that they had sinned against God. But they didn't put into practice what Ezekiel taught them. They talked about loving God. But their actions showed that they didn't serve God with their whole heart. God described this as treating God's name as if it weren't holy. It was clear that God's people weren't going to be faithful to his covenant with them. So God explained the new covenant that he had announced in Ezekiel chapter 16. God would make this new covenant for the honour of his holy name. He wanted all people everywhere to know that he is the holy Lord and King. God chose to make this clear to all nations by making a new covenant with Israel. The new covenant was based on God's Spirit being inside his people. This would change their hearts. They would no longer be stubborn but would want to obey God. God promised to save his people from all their uncleanness. He would make them pure from all their sins. This meant that he would save them from the power that sin had over them. He would forgive them and make them able to choose to obey him. The new covenant included covenant blessings. These were even greater than the covenant blessings of the Mount Sinai covenant. They included more than peace, food, land and safety. They included a leader from the family line of David. This person would be a good and faithful shepherd. He would rule over the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom as one nation again. God himself would live with his people and would make Israel holy. This would last for ever. The Spirit being breathed into the dry bones was a picture of new life. It showed that God's people would live in their land again after the exile. It was also a picture of the new life they would have in the new covenant. God's people would have new life because God's Spirit would be in them. Some of the promises in these messages were fulfilled after the Jews returned from exile. Jews came to understand that some of Ezekiel's prophecies would come true in the future. That would happen when the messiah came. New Testament writers showed that Jesus is the Messiah. He put the new covenant into effect.