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Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones
37 The (A)hand of the Lord was upon me, and He (B)brought me out [a]by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the (C)valley; and it was full of bones. 2 He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, (D)can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord [b]God, (E)You know.” 4 Again He said to me, “(F)Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, (G)hear the word of the Lord.’ 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause [c](H)breath to enter you that you may come to life. 6 I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will (I)know that I am the Lord.’”
7 So I prophesied (J)as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a [d]noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and (K)breathe on these slain, that they (L)come to life.”’” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the (M)breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an (N)exceedingly great army.
The Vision Explained
11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the (O)whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our (P)bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are [e]completely (Q)cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will open your graves and (R)cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you 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. 14 I will (S)put My [f]Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,” declares the Lord.’”
Reunion of Judah and Israel
15 The word of the Lord came again to me saying, 16 “And you, son of man, take for yourself (T)one stick and write on it, ‘For (U)Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For (V)Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’ 17 Then (W)join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. 18 When the sons of your people speak to you saying, ‘Will you not declare to us (X)what you mean by these?’ 19 say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “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.”’ 20 The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. 21 Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will (Y)take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them (Z)one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and (AA)one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will (AB)no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but (AC)I will deliver them from all their [g]dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God.
The Davidic Kingdom
24 “My servant (AD)David will be king over them, and they will all have (AE)one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. 25 They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and (AF)David My servant will be their prince forever. 26 I will make a (AG)covenant of peace with them; it will be an (AH)everlasting covenant with them. And I will [h]place them and (AI)multiply them, and will set My (AJ)sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 My (AK)dwelling place also will be with them; and (AL)I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 And the nations will know that I am the Lord (AM)who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”’”
Prophecy about Gog and Future Invasion of Israel
38 And the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward (AN)Gog of the land of (AO)Magog, the [i]prince of (AP)Rosh, (AQ)Meshech and (AR)Tubal, and prophesy against him 3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord [j]God, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, [k]prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. 4 I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will (AS)bring you out, and all your army, (AT)horses and horsemen, all of them [l]splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; 5 (AU)Persia, [m](AV)Ethiopia and (AW)Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 (AX)Gomer with all its troops; (AY)Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you.
7 “(AZ)Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. 8 (BA)After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been (BB)gathered from many [n]nations to the (BC)mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but [o]its people were brought out from the [p]nations, and they are (BD)living securely, all of them. 9 You will go up, you will come (BE)like a storm; you will be like a (BF)cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.”
10 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “It will come about on that day, that [q]thoughts will come into your mind and you will (BG)devise an evil plan, 11 and you will say, ‘I will go up against the land of [r](BH)unwalled villages. I will go against those who are (BI)at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates, 12 to (BJ)capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the [s]center of the world.’ 13 (BK)Sheba and (BL)Dedan and the merchants of (BM)Tarshish with all its [t]villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great (BN)spoil?’”’
14 “Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On that day when My people Israel are (BO)living securely, will you not know it? 15 (BP)You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army; 16 and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may (BQ)know Me when I am (BR)sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.”
17 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who (BS)prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them? 18 It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” declares the Lord God, “that My fury will mount up in My (BT)anger. 19 In My (BU)zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great [u](BV)earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 (BW)The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the (BX)mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will [v]collapse and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 I will call for a (BY)sword against [w]him on all My mountains,” declares the Lord God. “(BZ)Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 With pestilence and with blood I will enter into (CA)judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, [x]a torrential rain, with (CB)hailstones, fire and brimstone. 23 I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and (CC)make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the Lord.”’
19 [a]This (A)you know, (B)my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, (C)slow to speak and (D)slow to anger; 20 for (E)the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore, (F)putting aside all filthiness and all [b]that remains of wickedness, in [c]humility receive (G)the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. 22 (H)But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his [d]natural face (I)in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, [e]he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, (J)the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but [f]an effectual doer, this man will be (K)blessed in [g]what he does.
26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not [h](L)bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion (M)in the sight of our God and Father is this: to (N)visit (O)orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained [i]by (P)the world.
The Sin of Partiality
2 (Q)My brethren, (R)do not hold your faith in our (S)glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of (T)personal favoritism. 2 For if a man comes into your [j]assembly with a gold ring and dressed in [k](U)fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in (V)dirty clothes, 3 and you [l]pay special attention to the one who is wearing the (W)fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges (X)with evil [m]motives? 5 Listen, (Y)my beloved brethren: did not (Z)God choose the poor [n]of this world to be (AA)rich in faith and (AB)heirs of the kingdom which He (AC)promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and [o]personally (AD)drag you into [p]court? 7 (AE)Do they not blaspheme the fair name [q]by which you have been called?
8 If, however, you (AF)are fulfilling the [r]royal law according to the Scripture, “(AG)You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you (AH)show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the [s]law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole [t]law and yet (AI)stumbles in one point, he has become (AJ)guilty of all. 11 For He who said, “(AK)Do not commit adultery,” also said, “(AL)Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the [u]law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by (AM)the law of liberty. 13 For (AN)judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy [v]triumphs over judgment.
Faith and Works
14 (AO)What use is it, (AP)my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can [w]that faith save him? 15 (AQ)If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “(AR)Go in peace, [x]be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so (AS)faith, if it has no works, is [y]dead, being by itself.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.