3. He said to me, “Mortal man, can these bones come back to life?”I replied, “Sovereign Lord, only you can answer that!”
4. He said, “Prophesy to the bones. Tell these dry bones to listen to the word of the Lord.
5. Tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them: I am going to put breath into you and bring you back to life.
6. I will give you sinews and muscles, and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you and bring you back to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”
7. So I prophesied as I had been told. While I was speaking, I heard a rattling noise, and the bones began to join together.
8. While I watched, the bones were covered with sinews and muscles, and then with skin. But there was no breath in the bodies.
9. God said to me, “Mortal man, prophesy to the wind. Tell the wind that the Sovereign Lord commands it to come from every direction, to breathe into these dead bodies, and to bring them back to life.”
10. So I prophesied as I had been told. Breath entered the bodies, and they came to life and stood up. There were enough of them to form an army.
11. God said to me, “Mortal man, the people of Israel are like these bones. They say that they are dried up, without any hope and with no future.