God said, “Stand among them and say, ‘Dry bones, hear what God says to you. Yes, the Lord is talking to you. He’s telling you he’s going to put breath back into you, and you’ll once again be alive. You’ll have flesh, and muscle, and skin … and life. Then, you’ll know he’s the Lord.’ ”

So Ezekiel stood and told this to the bones. Suddenly he heard the sound of rattling all across the valley. The bones had become solid, and were reconnecting themselves. Soon there were complete skeletons lying all over the ground.

As the prophet watched, tendons and muscles formed on the skeletons. And then skin stretched over the flesh. They were like dead bodies lying on the ground, all across the valley. But even with all of this, they didn’t have life.

The Lord said to Ezekiel, “Son of man, preach to breath. Say, ‘Hear what God says to you. Yes, the Lord is talking to you. He’s telling you to ride on the four winds and come and enter into these dead bodies.’ ”

So Ezekiel said this to breath. Suddenly the wind blew and breath entered into all the dead bodies, and they became alive! They sat up … and then got up. It was then Ezekiel realized they were a vast army.

The Lord said, “Son of man, these bones represent all twelve tribes of Israel. Right now they’re saying, ‘We’re no longer a nation. There’s no hope for us. Our bones are dried up.’

“Preach to them! Say, ‘Hear what God says to you. Yes, the Lord is talking to you. He is telling you that he’s going to open your graves of exile and bring you back to the land of Israel. He’ll put his Spirit in you, and you’ll live again. Then you’ll know that he is the Lord.’ ”

The Lord spoke to Ezekiel again. “Son of man, find a small piece of wood. Carve the word ‘Judah’ on it. Find another piece of wood and carve the word ‘Israel’ on it.”

Ezekiel did this. Then the Lord said, “Hold them together as if they are one piece of wood. Carry them around until people ask you what it means.

“Tell them the Lord God is saying, ‘There’ll come a time when I’ll bring both nations together again. They’ll no longer be two nations, but one. I’ll give them their own land, the land I gave Jacob. They’ll have one king. David will rule over them. They’ll no longer corrupt themselves with idols. I’ll make them clean and they’ll be my people, and I’ll be their God.’ ”