1 O poder do Senhor desceu sobre mim e fui transportado pelo Espírito de Deus a um vale cheio de ossadas.
2 Fez-me andar por ali, pelo meio deles. Era uma quantidade enorme de ossos, já extremamente ressequidos.
3 E disse-me:Homem mortal, poderão estes ossos tornarem-se novamente em pessoas? Senhor, só tu sabes se isso é possível, respondi
4 Então mandou que eu profetizasse para aqueles ossos o seguinte:Ossos secos, ouçam a palavra de Deus, porque o Senhor diz-vos assim: Vejam! Soprarei sobre vocês e tornarão a viver!
6 Serão revestidos de carne, de nervos e cobertos com pele; soprarei sobre vocês, e hão-de viver e saber que eu sou o Senhor.
7 Falei-lhes pois essas palavras da parte de Deus, tal como me disse, e começou a ouvir-se um ruído por todo o vale, ainda enquanto eu falava; tudo aquilo se agitava, os ossos juntando-se uns com os outros, de acordo com a estrutura do corpo. Continuei a olhar e vi que se iam revestindo de carne e de nervos; depois cobriram-se de pele. No entanto faltava-lhes a vida. Por isso disse-me que mandasse vir espírito sobre eles, assim: Diz o Senhor Deus: Vem dos quatro pontos cardiais, ó Espírito, e sopra sobre estes corpos inertes para que vivam. Disse então isso mesmo e os corpos puseram-se a mexer com vida; levantaram-se e faziam um exército imenso de gente.
11 Disse-me Deus: Estes ossos representam todo o povo de Israel. Eles falam assim: Não passamos de um montão de ossos ressequidos; já não nos resta esperança de espécie alguma
12 No entanto diz-lhe isto da parte do Senhor Deus:Povo meu, hei-de abrir-vos as sepulturas, e fazer com que se levantem e regressem à terra de Israel.
13 Por fim, ó meu povo, hão-de saber que eu sou o Senhor.
14 Porei o meu Espírito sobre vocês, para que vivam; e hão-de regressar à vossa terra natal. Dar-se-ão conta, nessa altura, de que eu, o Senhor, fiz aquilo que vos prometi.
15 Recebi novamente uma mensagem da parte do Senhor dizendo:
16 Pega numa vara e grava nela os seguintes dizeres: Esta vara representa Judá e as outras tribos suas aliadas. Pega depois noutra vara e escreve estas outras palavas: Esta vara representa todas as outras tribos de Israel. Seguidamente junta-as na tua mão, como se fossem uma só. Diz aos filhos do teu povo, pegando nas varas, de forma que vejam bem, o que o Senhor Deus lhes comunica: Tomarei as tribos de Israel e juntá-las-ei a Judá, de forma a que na minha mão se tornem numa só tribo.
21 Porque o Senhor Deus diz assim: Estou a juntar o povo de Israel do meio de todas as nações, e vou trazê-los para casa; vou trazê-los à sua terra natal de todas as partes do mundo, e unificá-los-ei numa só nação. Terão um só rei sobre eles. Nunca mais estarão divididos em duas nações.
23 Deixarão de se poluir a si próprios com idolatria e outros pecados. Purificá-los-ei de todas essas imundícies. Então, serão o meu verdadeiro povo e eu serei o seu Deus.
24 David, o meu servo será o seu rei, o seu único pastor. Obedecerão às minhas leis e a toda a minha vontade. Habitarão em terra de Israel, essa terra onde seus pais moraram e que eu dei ao meu servo Jacob. Tal como eles, também os seus filhos e todos os seus descendentes, pelas gerações fora ,viverão ali. O meu servo David será o seu chefe para sempre. Farei com eles uma aliança de paz, um pacto eterno. Abençoá-los-ei e os multiplicarei. O meu templo levantar-se-á para sempre no meio deles. Sim, a minha casa ali estará entre eles. Serei o seu Deus; eles serão o meu povo. Com o meu templo no meio deles, as nações verificarão que eu, o Senhor, elegi Israel para ser alvo especial das minhas bênçãos.
1 The hand of Yahweh was on me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of Yahweh, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
2 And he caused me to pass by them round about: and, look, there were very many in the open valley; and, look, they were very dry.
3 And he said to me, Son of Man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Sovereign Yahweh, you know.
4 Again he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O you{+} dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh.
5 Thus says the Sovereign Yahweh to these bones: Look, I will cause breath to enter into you{+}, and you{+} will live.
6 And I will lay sinews on you{+}, and will bring up flesh on you{+}, and cover you{+} with skin, and put breath in you{+}, and you{+} will live; and you{+} will know that I am Yahweh.
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and, look, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
8 And I looked, and saw that there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, Son of Man, and say to the wind, Thus says the Sovereign Yahweh: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
11 Then he said to me, Son of Man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: look, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.
12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Sovereign Yahweh: Look, 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.
13 And you{+} will know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your{+} graves, and caused you{+} to come up out of your{+} graves, O my people.
14 And I will put my Spirit in you{+}, and you{+} will live, and I will place you{+} in your{+} own land: and you{+} will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it and performed it, says Yahweh.
15 The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying,
16 And you, Son of Man, take for yourself one stick, and write on it, For Judah, and for the sons of Israel his partners: then take another stick, and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and [for] all the house of Israel his partners:
17 and join them for you one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.
18 And when the sons of your people will speak to you, saying, Will you not show us what you mean by these?
19 Say to them, Thus says the Sovereign Yahweh: Look, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his partners; and I will put them with it, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in my hand.
20 And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.
21 And say to them, Thus says the Sovereign Yahweh: Look, 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:
22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king to them all; and no more will they be two nations, neither will they be divided into two kingdoms anymore at all;
23 neither will they defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their backslidings, in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so they will be my people, and I will be their God.
24 And my slave David will be king over them; and all of them will have one shepherd: they will also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they will dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my slave, in which your{+} fathers dwelt; and they will dwell in it, they, and their sons, and the sons of their sons, forever: and David my slave will be their prince forever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore.
27 My tabernacle also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be my people.
28 And the nations will know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary will be in the midst of them forevermore.