Ezekiel 37

• 1. The LORD took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the LORD to a valley filled with bones.
• 2. He led me around among the old, dry bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground.
• 3. Then he asked me, "Son of man, can these bones become living people again?O Sovereign LORD," I replied, "you alone know the answer to that."
• 4. Then he said to me, "Speak to these bones and say, `Dry bones, listen to the word of the LORD!
• 5. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Look! I am going to breathe into you and make you live again!
• 6. I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'"
• 7. So I spoke these words, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as they had been before.
• 8. Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.
• 9. Then he said to me, "Speak to the winds and say: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so that they may live again.'"
• 10. So I spoke as he commanded me, and the wind entered the bodies, and they began to breathe. They all came to life and stood up on their feet--a great army of them.
• 11. Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, `We have become old, dry bones--all hope is gone.'
• 12. Now give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel.
• 13. When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the LORD.
• 14. I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I am the LORD. You will see that I have done everything just as I promised. I, the LORD, have spoken!"
• 15. Again a message came to me from the LORD:
• 16. "Son of man, take a stick and carve on it these words: `This stick represents Judah and its allied tribes.' Then take another stick and carve these words on it: `This stick represents the northern tribes of Israel.'
• 17. Now hold them together in your hand as one stick.
• 18. When your people ask you what your actions mean,
• 19. say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the northern tribes and join them to Judah. I will make them one stick in my hand.'
• 20. Then hold out the sticks you have inscribed, so the people can see them.
• 21. And give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: I will gather the people of Israel from among the nations. I will bring them home to their own land from the places where they have been scattered.
• 22. I will unify them into one nation in the land. One king will rule them all; no longer will they be divided into two nations.
• 23. They will stop polluting themselves with their detestable idols and other sins, for I will save them from their sinful backsliding. I will cleanse them. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.
• 24. "My servant David will be their king, and they will have only one shepherd. They will obey my regulations and keep my laws.
• 25. They will live in the land of Israel where their ancestors lived, the land I gave my servant Jacob. They and their children and their grandchildren after them will live there forever, generation after generation. And my servant David will be their prince forever.
• 26. And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give them their land and multiply them, and I will put my Temple among them forever.
• 27. I will make my home among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
• 28. And since my Temple will remain among them forever, the nations will know that I, the LORD, have set Israel apart for myself to be holy."

Ezekiel 38

• 1. This is another message that came to me from the LORD:
• 2. "Son of man, prophesy against Gog of the land of Magog, the prince who rules over the nations of Meshech and Tubal.
• 3. Give him this message from the Sovereign LORD: Gog, I am your enemy!
• 4. I will turn you around and put hooks into your jaws to lead you out to your destruction. I will mobilize your troops and cavalry and make you a vast and mighty horde, all fully armed.
• 5. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya will join you, too, with all their weapons.
• 6. Gomer and all its hordes will also join you, along with the armies of Beth-togarmah from the distant north and many others.
• 7. "Get ready; be prepared! Keep all the armies around you mobilized, and take command of them.
• 8. A long time from now you will be called into action. In the distant future you will swoop down on the land of Israel, which will be lying in peace after her recovery from war and after the return of her people from many lands.
• 9. You and all your allies--a vast and awesome horde--will roll down on them like a storm and cover the land like a cloud.
• 10. "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: At that time evil thoughts will come to your mind, and you will devise a wicked scheme.
• 11. You will say, `Israel is an unprotected land filled with unwalled villages! I will march against her and destroy these people who live in such confidence!
• 12. I will go to those once-desolate cities that are again filled with people who have returned from exile in many nations. I will capture vast amounts of plunder and take many slaves, for the people are rich with cattle now, and they think the whole world revolves around them!'
• 13. But Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish will ask, `Who are you to rob them of silver and gold? Who are you to drive away their cattle and seize their goods and make them poor?'
• 14. "Therefore, son of man, prophesy against Gog. Give him this message from the Sovereign LORD: When my people are living in peace in their land, then you will rouse yourself.
• 15. You will come from your homeland in the distant north with your vast cavalry and your mighty army,
• 16. and you will cover the land like a cloud. This will happen in the distant future. I will bring you against my land as everyone watches, and my holiness will be displayed by what happens to you. Then all the nations will know that I am the LORD.
• 17. "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: You are the one I was talking about long ago, when I announced through Israel's prophets that in future days I would bring you against my people.
• 18. But when Gog invades the land of Israel, says the Sovereign LORD, my fury will rise!
• 19. For in my jealousy and blazing anger, I promise a mighty shaking in the land of Israel on that day.
• 20. All living things--all the fish, birds, animals, and people--will quake in terror at my presence. Mountains will be thrown down; cliffs will crumble; walls will fall to the earth.
• 21. I will summon the sword against you throughout Israel, says the Sovereign LORD. Your men will turn against each other in mortal combat.
• 22. I will punish you and your hordes with disease and bloodshed; I will send torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and burning sulfur!
• 23. Thus will I show my greatness and holiness, and I will make myself known to all the nations of the world. Then they will know that I am the LORD!

Ezekiel 39

• 1. "Son of man, prophesy against Gog. Give him this message from the Sovereign LORD: I am your enemy, O Gog, ruler of the nations of Meshech and Tubal.
• 2. I will turn you and drive you toward the mountains of Israel, bringing you from the distant north.
• 3. I will knock your weapons from your hands and leave you helpless.
• 4. You and all your vast hordes will die on the mountains. I will give you as food to the vultures and wild animals.
• 5. You will fall in the open fields, for I have spoken, says the Sovereign LORD.
• 6. And I will rain down fire on Magog and on all your allies who live safely on the coasts. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
• 7. "Thus, I will make known my holy name among my people of Israel. I will not let it be desecrated anymore. And the nations, too, will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
• 8. That day of judgment will come, says the Sovereign LORD. Everything will happen just as I have declared it.
• 9. "Then the people in the towns of Israel will go out and pick up your small and large shields, bows and arrows, javelins and spears, and they will use them for fuel. There will be enough to last them seven years!
• 10. They will need nothing else for their fires. They won't need to cut wood from the fields or forests, for these weapons will give them all they need. They will take plunder from those who planned to plunder them, says the Sovereign LORD.
• 11. "And I will make a vast graveyard for Gog and his hordes in the Valley of the Travelers, east of the Dead Sea. The path of those who travel there will be blocked by this burial ground, and they will change the name of the place to the Valley of Gog's Hordes.
• 12. It will take seven months for the people of Israel to cleanse the land by burying the bodies.
• 13. Everyone in Israel will help, for it will be a glorious victory for Israel when I demonstrate my glory on that day, says the Sovereign LORD.
• 14. At the end of the seven months, special crews will be appointed to search the land for any skeletons and to bury them, so the land will be made clean again.
• 15. Whenever some bones are found, a marker will be set up beside them so the burial crews will see them and take them to be buried in the Valley of Gog's Hordes.
• 16. (There will be a town there named Hamonah--which means `horde.') And so the land will finally be cleansed.
• 17. "And now, son of man, call all the birds and wild animals, says the Sovereign LORD. Say to them: Gather together for my great sacrificial feast. Come from far and near to the mountains of Israel, and there eat the flesh and drink the blood!
• 18. Eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of princes as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and fat young bulls of Bashan!
• 19. Gorge yourselves with flesh until you are glutted; drink blood until you are drunk. This is the sacrificial feast I have prepared for you.
• 20. Feast at my banquet table--feast on horses, riders, and valiant warriors, says the Sovereign LORD.
• 21. "Thus, I will demonstrate my glory among the nations. Everyone will see the punishment I have inflicted on them and the power I have demonstrated.
• 22. And from that time on the people of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God.
• 23. The nations will then know why Israel was sent away to exile--it was punishment for sin, for they acted in treachery against their God. Therefore, I turned my back on them and let their enemies destroy them.
• 24. I turned my face away and punished them in proportion to the vileness of their sins.
• 25. "So now the Sovereign LORD says: I will end the captivity of my people; I will have mercy on Israel, for I am jealous for my holy reputation!
• 26. They will accept responsibility for their past shame and treachery against me after they come home to live in peace and safety in their own land. And then no one will bother them or make them afraid.
• 27. When I bring them home from the lands of their enemies, my holiness will be displayed to the nations.
• 28. Then my people will know that I am the LORD their God--responsible for sending them away to exile and responsible for bringing them home. I will leave none of my people behind.
• 29. And I will never again turn my back on them, for I will pour out my Spirit upon them, says the Sovereign LORD."

New Living Translation: 291 of 324 days.