Ezekiel 37 - Dry Bones Live and Two Sticks Become One

Dry bones rise as a living army, and two sticks joined together picture a reunited Israel and Judah.

Ezekiel 37: The Valley of Dry Bones

Ezekiel is set down in a valley full of very dry bones and told to prophesy until sinews, flesh, and breath turn them into 'an exceeding great army,' a picture the LORD explains as the whole house of Israel brought back to life. It follows the new-heart promise of Ezekiel 36 with its most vivid fulfillment.


The hand of Jehovah was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of Jehovah, and set me down in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones.

And he caused me to pass by them round about. And, behold, there were very many in the open valley, and, lo, they were very dry.

And he said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O lord Jehovah, thou know.

Again he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah.

Thus says the lord Jehovah to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.

And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live. And ye shall know that I am Jehovah.

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.

And I beheld, and, lo, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above, but there was no breath in them.

Then he said to me, Prophesy to the wind. Prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus says the lord Jehovah: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Then 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 clean cut off.

Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the lord Jehovah: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O my people, and I will bring you into the land of Israel.

And ye shall know that I am Jehovah when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, O my people.

And I will put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live. And I will place you in your own land. And ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken it and performed it, says Jehovah.

The word of Jehovah came again to me, saying,

And thou, son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the sons of Israel his companions. Then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions.

And join them one to another into one stick for thyself, that they may become one in thy hand.

And when the sons of thy people shall speak to thee, saying, Will thou not show us what thou mean by these?

say to them, Thus says the lord Jehovah: 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, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand.

And the sticks on which thou write shall be in thy hand before their eyes.

And say to them, Thus says the lord Jehovah: Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land.

And I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all. And they shall no more be two nations, nor shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.

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 they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

And 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.

And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers dwelt. And they shall dwell therein, they, and their sons, and their son's sons, forever. And David my servant shall be their ruler forever.

Moreover I will make a covenant of peace 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 for evermore.

My tabernacle shall also be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

And the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

In the second half, two sticks marked for Judah and Joseph are joined into one, picturing a reunited kingdom under 'one shepherd' and an everlasting covenant of peace. The bones-to-life imagery is echoed in Jesus' own words about the dead hearing his voice in <a href="/bible/acv/john/chapter-5/25">John 5:25</a>, before Ezekiel's tone turns to war again with Gog in <a href="/bible/acv/ezekiel/chapter-38">Ezekiel 38</a>.