Day 50 · Ezekiel 33; 37
Old Testament · Phase 6 · Exile & Return
News of Jerusalem's fall arrives; Valley of dry bones
Ezekiel 33
Section titled “Ezekiel 33”Ezekiel the Watchman for Israel
1Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, speak to your people and tell them: ‘Suppose I bring the sword against a land, and the people of that land choose a man from among them, appointing him as their watchman, 3and he sees the sword coming against that land and blows the ram’s horn to warn the people.
4Then if anyone hears the sound of the horn but fails to heed the warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. 5Since he heard the sound of the horn but failed to heed the warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life.
6But if the watchman sees the sword coming and fails to blow the horn to warn the people, and the sword comes and takes away a life, then that one will be taken away in his iniquity, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.’
7As for you, O son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word from My mouth and give them the warning from Me. 8If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to dissuade him from his way, then that wicked man will die in his iniquity, yet I will hold you accountable for his blood. 9But if you warn the wicked man to turn from his way, and he does not turn from it, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved your life.
The Message of the Watchman
10Now as for you, son of man, tell the house of Israel that this is what they have said: ‘Our transgressions and our sins are heavy upon us, and we are wasting away because of them! How can we live?’
11Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
12Therefore, son of man, say to your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression; neither will the wickedness of the wicked man cause him to stumble on the day he turns from his wickedness. Nor will the righteous man be able to survive by his righteousness on the day he sins.’
13If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but he then trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity, then none of his righteous works will be remembered; he will die because of the iniquity he has committed.
14But if I tell the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and does what is just and right— 15if he restores a pledge, makes restitution for what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without practicing iniquity— then he will surely live; he will not die. 16None of the sins he has committed will be held against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live.
17Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just. 18If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die for it. 19But if a wicked man turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live because of this.
20Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to his ways, O house of Israel.”
Word of Jerusalem’s Fall
21In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and reported, “The city has been taken!”
22Now the evening before the fugitive arrived, the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer mute.
23Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 24“Son of man, those living in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’
25Therefore tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You eat meat with the blood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood. Should you then possess the land? 26You have relied on your swords, you have committed detestable acts, and each of you has defiled his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?’
27Tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, those in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the open field I will give to be devoured by wild animals, and those in the strongholds and caves will die by plague. 28I will make the land a desolate waste, and the pride of her strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will become desolate, so that no one will pass through. 29Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land a desolate waste because of all the abominations they have committed.’
30As for you, son of man, your people are talking about you near the city walls and in the doorways of their houses. One speaks to another, each saying to his brother, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD!’
31So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain. 32Indeed, you are to them like a singer of love songs with a beautiful voice, who skillfully plays an instrument. They hear your words but do not put them into practice. 33So when it comes to pass— and surely it will come— then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
Ezekiel 37
Section titled “Ezekiel 37”The Valley of Dry Bones
1The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones. 2He led me all around among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, and indeed, they were very dry.
3Then He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones come to life?”
“O Lord GOD,” I replied, “only You know.”
4And He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and tell them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5This is what the Lord GOD says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will come to life. 6I will attach tendons to you and make flesh grow upon you and cover you with skin. I will put breath within you so that you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”
7So I prophesied as I had been commanded. And as I prophesied, there was suddenly a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8As I looked on, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.
9Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and tell the breath that this is what the Lord GOD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, so that they may live!”
10So I prophesied as He had commanded me, and the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet — a vast army.
11Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’
12Therefore prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O My people, I will open your graves and bring you up from them, and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13Then you, My people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14I will put My Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.’”
One Nation with One King
15Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 16“And you, son of man, take a single stick and write on it: ‘Belonging to Judah and to the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick and write on it: ‘Belonging to Joseph— the stick of Ephraim— and to all the house of Israel associated with him.’ 17Then join them together into one stick, so that they become one in your hand.
18When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you explain to us what you mean by these?’ 19you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will put them together with the stick of Judah. I will make them into a single stick, and they will become one in My hand.’
20When the sticks on which you write are in your hand and in full view of the people, 21you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will take the Israelites out of the nations to which they have gone, and I will gather them from all around and bring them into their own land. 22I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over all of them. Then they will no longer be two nations and will never again be divided into two kingdoms.
23They will no longer defile themselves with their idols or detestable images, or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all their apostasies by which they sinned, and I will cleanse them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God. 24My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow My ordinances and keep and observe My statutes.
25They will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They will live there forever with their children and grandchildren, and My servant David will be their prince forever. 26And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary among them forever. 27My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28Then the nations will know that I the LORD sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is among them forever.’”