1 The hand of the Lord was vpon mee, and caried mee out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set mee downe in the middest of the valley which was full of bones,
2 And caused mee to passe by them round about, and beholde, there were very many in the open valley, and loe, they were very drie.
3 And hee said vnto mee, Sonne of man, can these bones liue? and I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.
4 Againe he said vnto me, Prophecie vpon these bones, and say vnto them; O yee drie bones, heare the word of the Lord.
5 Thus saith the Lord God vnto these bones, Behold, I wil cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall liue.
6 And I wil lay sinewes vpon you, and wil bring vp flesh vpon you, and couer you with skinne, and put breath in you, and ye shall liue, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
7 So I prophecied as I was commanded: and as I prophecied, there was a noise, and beholde a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
8 And when I beheld, loe, the sinews and the flesh came vp vpon them, and the skin couered them aboue; but there was no breath in them.
9 Then said he vnto mee, Prophecie vnto the winde, prophecie sonne of man, and say to the winde, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the foure windes, O breath, and breathe vpon these slaine, that they may liue.
10 So I prophecied as he commanded mee, and the breath came into them, and they liued, and stood vp vpon their feet, an exceeding great armie.
11 ¶ Then he said vnto me, Sonne of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say; Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost, wee are cut off for our parts.
12 Therefore prophecie and say vnto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O my people, I wil open your graues, and cause you to come vp out of your graues, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I haue opened your graues, O my people, and brought you vp out of your graues,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and yee shall liue, and I shall place you in your owne land: then shall ye know that I the Lord haue spoken it, and perfourmed it, saith the Lord.
15 ¶ The word of the Lord came againe vnto me, saying;
16 Moreouer thou sonne of man, take thee one sticke, and write vpon it, For Iudah and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another sticke, and write vpon it; For Ioseph the sticke of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions.
17 And ioyne them one to another into one sticke, and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 ¶ And when the children of thy people shall speake vnto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew vs what thou meanest by these?
19 Say vnto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will take the sticke of Ioseph which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellowes, and will put them with him, euen with the sticke of Iudah, and make them one sticke, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 ¶ And the stickes whereon thou writest, shalbe in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say vnto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen whither they be gone, and will gather them on euery side, and bring them into their owne land.
22 And I will make them one nation in the land vpon the mountaines of Israel, and one King shall be king to them all: and they shalbe no more two nations, neither shall they bee diuided into two kingdomes any more at all.
23 Neither shall they defile themselues any more with their idoles, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will saue them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they haue sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 And Dauid my seruant shall be King ouer them, and they all shall haue one shepheard: they shall also walke in my iudgements, and obserue my statutes, and doe them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I haue giuen vnto Iacob my seruant, wherin your fathers haue dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, euen they and their children, and their childrens children for euer, and my seruant Dauid shalbe their prince for euer.
26 Moreouer I will make a couenant of peace with them, it shall be an euerlasting couenant wich them, and I will place them and multiply them, and will set my Sanctuary in the middest of them for euermore.
27 My Tabernacle also shalbe with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shalbe my people.
28 And the heathen shal know that I the Lord doe sanctifie Israel, when my Sanctuarie shalbe in the middest of them for euermore.
God restores dried bones to life. (1-14) The whole house of Israel is represented as enjoying the blessings of Christ's kingdom. (15-28)1-14 No created power could restore human bones to life. God alone could cause them to live. Skin and flesh covered them, and the wind was then told to blow upon these bodies; and they were restored to life. The wind was an emblem of the Spirit of God, and represented his quickening powers. The vision was to encourage the desponding Jews; to predict both their restoration after the captivity, and also their recovery from their present and long-continued dispersion. It was also a clear intimation of the resurrection of the dead; and it represents the power and grace of God, in the conversion of the most hopeless sinners to himself. Let us look to Him who will at last open our graves, and bring us forth to judgment, that He may now deliver us from sin, and put his Spirit within us, and keep us by his power, through faith, unto salvation.
15-28 This emblem was to show the people, that the Lord would unite Judah and Israel. Christ is the true David, Israel's King of old; and those whom he makes willing in the day of his power, he makes to walk in his judgments, and to keep his statutes. Events yet to come will further explain this prophecy. Nothing has more hindered the success of the gospel than divisions. Let us study to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; let us seek for Divine grace to keep us from detestable things; and let us pray that all nations may be obedient and happy subjects of the Son of David, that the Lord may be our God, and we may be his people for evermore.
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.