Study Desk

The ^(C1)hand of the LORD was upon me, and He ^(C2)brought me out ^(F1)by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the ^(C3)valley; and it was full of bones.

He had me pass among them all around, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and behold, they were very dry.

Then He said to me, "Son of man, ^(C1)can these bones live?" And I answered, "Lord ^(F1)GOD, ^(C2)You Yourself know."

Again He said to me, "^(C1)Prophesy over these bones and say to them, 'You dry bones, ^(C2)hear the word of the LORD.'

"This is what the Lord GOD says to these bones: 'Behold, I am going to make ^(F1)(C1)breath enter you so that you may come to life.

+'And I will ^(F1)attach tendons to you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin, and put breath in you so that you may come to life; and you will ^(C1)know that I am the LORD.'"

So I prophesied ^(C1)as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a loud noise, and behold, a ^(F1)rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

And I looked, and behold, tendons were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.

Then He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'The Lord GOD says this: "Come from the four winds, breath, and ^(C1)breathe on these slain, so that they ^(C2)come to life."'"

So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the ^(C1)breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an ^(C2)exceedingly great army.

Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the ^(C1)entire house of Israel; behold, they say, 'Our ^(C2)bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are ^(F1)completely ^(C3)cut off.'

"Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Behold, I am going to open your graves and ^(C1)cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.

"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.

"And I will ^(C1)put My ^(F1)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.'"

The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,

"Now you, son of man, take for yourself ^(C1)one stick and write on it, 'For ^(C2)Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions'; then take another stick and write on it, 'For ^(C3)Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.'

"Then ^(C1)put them together for yourself one to another into one stick, so that they may become one in your hand.

"And when the sons of your people speak to you, saying, 'Will you not declare to us ^(C1)what ^(F1)you mean by these?'

say to them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Behold, I am going to 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."'

"The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.

"And say to them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Behold, I am going to ^(C1)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;

and I will make them ^(C1)one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and ^(C2)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.

"They will ^(C1)no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their offenses; but ^(C2)I will rescue them from all their ^(F1)dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God.

"And My servant ^(C1)David will be king over them, and they will all have ^(C2)one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances, and keep My statutes and ^(F1)follow them.

"And they will live on the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons' sons, forever; and My servant ^(C1)David will be their leader forever.

"And I will make a ^(C1)covenant of peace with them; it will be an ^(C2)everlasting covenant with them. And I will ^(F1)place them and ^(C3)multiply them, and set My ^(C4)sanctuary in their midst forever.

"My ^(C1)dwelling place also will be among them; and ^(C2)I will be their God, and they will be My people.

"And the nations will know that I am the LORD ^(C1)who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever."'"

Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

"Son of man, set your face toward ^(C1)Gog of the land of ^(C2)Magog, the ^(C3)chief prince of ^(C4)Meshech and ^(C4)Tubal, and prophesy against him,

and say, 'This is what the Lord ^(F1)GOD says: "Behold, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.

"So I will turn you around and put hooks into your jaws, and I will ^(C1)bring you out, and all your army, ^(C2)horses and horsemen, all of them magnificently dressed, a great contingent with shield and ^(F1)buckler, all of them wielding swords;

^(C1)Persia, ^(F1)(C2)Cush, and ^(C3)Put with them, all of them with buckler and helmet;

^(C1)Gomer with all its troops; ^(C2)Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you.

"^(C1)Be ready, and be prepared, you and all your contingents that are assembled around you, and be a guard for them.

"^(C1)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 ^(C2)gathered from many ^(F1)nations to the ^(C3)mountains of Israel which had been a continual place of ruins; but ^(F2)its people were brought out from the ^(F1)nations, and they are ^(C4)living securely, all of them.

"And you will go up, you will come ^(C1)like a storm; you will be like a ^(C2)cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you."

'This is what the Lord GOD says: "It will come about on that day, that ^(F1)thoughts will come into your mind and you will ^(C1)devise an evil plan,

and you will say, 'I will go up against the land of ^(F1)(C1)unwalled villages. I will go against those who are ^(C2)at rest, who live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates,

to ^(C1)capture spoils and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the ruins that are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who live at the ^(F1)center of the world.'

"^(C1)Sheba and ^(C2)Dedan and the merchants of ^(C3)Tarshish with all its ^(F1)villages will say to you, 'Have you come to capture spoils? Have you assembled your contingent to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to capture great ^(C4)spoils?'"'

"Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "On that day when My people Israel are ^(C1)living securely, will you not know it?

"^(C1)You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding horses, a large assembly and a mighty army;

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 ^(C1)know Me when I ^(C2)show Myself holy through you before their eyes, Gog."

'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who ^(C1)prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them?

"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 ^(C1)anger.

"In My ^(C1)zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will certainly be a great ^(F1)(C2)earthquake in the land of Israel.

"^(C1)The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals of the field, all the crawling things that crawl on the earth, and all mankind who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; and the ^(C2)mountains will be thrown down, the steep pathways will ^(F1)collapse, and every wall will fall to the ground.

"And I will call for a ^(C1)sword against ^(F1)him on all My mountains," declares the Lord GOD. "^(C2)Every man's sword will be against his brother.

"With plague and with blood I will enter into ^(C1)judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, ^(F1)a torrential rain, ^(C2)hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

"So I will prove Myself great, show Myself holy, and ^(C1)make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the LORD."'

"And ^(C1)you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, 'This is what the Lord ^(F1)GOD says: "Behold, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal;

and I will turn you around, lead you on a rope, take you up from the remotest parts of the north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel.

"Then I will ^(C1)strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows fall from your right hand.

"You will ^(C1)fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops, and the peoples who are with you; I will give you as ^(C2)food to every ^(F1)kind of predatory bird and animal of the field.

"You will fall on the ^(F1)open field; for it is I who have spoken," declares the Lord GOD.

"And I will send ^(C1)fire upon Magog and those who inhabit the ^(C2)coastlands in safety; and they will know that I am the LORD.

"And I will make My ^(C1)holy name known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not allow My holy name to be ^(C2)profaned anymore. But the ^(C3)nations will know that I am the LORD, the ^(C4)Holy One in Israel.

"Behold, it is coming and it shall be done," declares the Lord GOD. "That is the day of which I have spoken.

"Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will ^(C1)go out and make ^(C2)fires with the weapons and burn them, both ^(F1)bucklers and shields, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears, and for seven years they will make fires of them.

"They will not take wood from the field or gather firewood from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons; and they will take the spoils of those who plundered them and seize the ^(C1)plunder of those who plundered them," declares the Lord GOD.

"On that day I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea, and it will block the way of those who would pass by. So they will bury Gog there with all his horde, and they will call it the Valley of ^(F1)Hamon-gog.

"For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to ^(C1)cleanse the land.

"And all the people of the land will bury them; and it will be ^(F1)to their ^(C1)renown on the day that I ^(C2)appear in My glory," declares the Lord GOD.

"They will also select men who will constantly pass through the land, ^(C1)burying those who were passing through, those left on the surface of the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will conduct a search.

"As those who pass through the land pass through and anyone sees a human bone, then he will ^(F1)set up a marker by it until the burial detail has buried it in the Valley of ^(F2)Hamon-gog.

"And even the name of the city will be Hamonah. So they will cleanse the land."'

"Now as for you, son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Say to every ^(F1)kind of ^(C1)bird and to every ^(C1)animal of the field: "Assemble and come, gather from every direction to My sacrifice, which I am going to ^(C2)sacrifice for you as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel; and you will eat flesh and drink blood.

"You will ^(C1)eat the flesh of warriors and drink the blood of the leaders of the earth, as though they were ^(C2)rams, lambs, goats, and ^(C3)bulls, all of them fattened livestock of ^(C4)Bashan.

"So you will eat fat until you are full, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.

"You will eat your fill at My table with ^(C1)horses and charioteers, with warriors and all the men of war," declares the Lord GOD.

"And I will place My ^(C1)glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them.

"And the house of Israel will ^(C1)know that I am the LORD their God, from that day onward.

"The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their ^(C1)wrongdoing, because they were disloyal to Me, and I ^(C2)hid My face from them; so I handed them over to their adversaries, and all of them fell by the sword.

"^(C1)In accordance with their uncleanness and their offenses I dealt with them, and I hid My face from them."'"

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "Now I will ^(C1)restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on all the ^(C2)house of Israel; and I will be ^(C3)jealous for My holy name.

"They will ^(F1)(C1)forget their disgrace and all their ^(F2)treachery which they perpetrated against Me, when they ^(C2)live securely on their own land with ^(C3)no one to make them afraid.

"When I ^(C1)bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall ^(C2)show Myself holy ^(F1)through them in the sight of the many nations.

"Then they will know that I am the LORD their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then I gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer.

"I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have ^(C1)poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel," declares the Lord GOD.