← All Chapters The Book of Ezekiel · Chapter 37

Ezekiel 37: Dry Bones and One King

In a valley of dead bones God breathes resurrection life into Israel and joins two divided sticks under one shepherd-king forever.

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Ezekiel 37 (WEB)

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 He caused me to pass by them all around: and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and behold, they were very dry.

3 He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? I answered, Lord Yahweh, you know.

4 Again he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, you dry bones, hear Yahweh’s word.

5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.

6 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 shall live; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

8 I saw, and, behold, 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 tell the wind, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Come from the four winds, 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: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.

12 Therefore prophesy, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.

13 You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people.

14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it and performed it, says Yahweh.

15 Yahweh’s word came again to me, saying,

16 You, son of man, take one stick, and write on it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:

17 and join them for you one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.

18 When the children of your people shall speak to you, saying, Will you not show us what you mean by these?

19 tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will 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 shall be one in my hand.

20 The sticks whereon you write shall be in your hand before their eyes.

21 Say to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, where they are 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 shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all;

23 neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

24 My servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them.

25 They shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children’s children, forever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever.

26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forever more.

27 My tent also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

28 The nations shall know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in their midst forever more.

Summary

The hand of Yahweh carries Ezekiel out in the Spirit and sets him down in a valley full of bones, very many and very dry. God asks whether these bones can live, and Ezekiel can only answer that the Lord alone knows. Commanded to prophesy, Ezekiel speaks God's word over the bones; with a noise and a rattling they come together, sinew and flesh and skin cover them, yet there is no breath in them. When he prophesies to the wind, breath enters the slain and they stand up, an exceedingly great army. God explains that the bones are the whole house of Israel, who say their hope is lost and they are cut off; he promises to open their graves, put his Spirit in them, and bring them home. In a second sign Ezekiel takes two sticks, one for Judah and one for Joseph, and joins them into one in his hand, picturing a reunited people. God promises one nation, cleansed from idols, with his servant David as their one shepherd and prince, and an everlasting covenant of peace. Best of all, he pledges to set his sanctuary among them forever, so that his dwelling will be with them and they will be his people. The chapter moves from death to resurrection, from division to unity, and from exile to the God who dwells with his own.

Main Characters

  • Ezekiel — The prophet carried in the Spirit into the valley, told to prophesy to the bones and to the breath, and to enact the joining of the two sticks.
  • Yahweh (the LORD) — The God who raises the dead, gives his Spirit, reunites his scattered people, and promises to dwell among them forever in an everlasting covenant.
  • The house of Israel — The exiled people pictured as dry bones whose hope is lost, raised to life and gathered as one nation on the mountains of Israel.
  • David, the one shepherd — God's servant promised as the single king and prince over the reunited people, pointing forward to the greater Son of David, Jesus the Good Shepherd.

Key Verse

Ezekiel 37:5 (WEB)

Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.

Lessons Learned

  • No situation is too dead for God; he raises a valley of dry bones to a living army by his word and Spirit.
  • Resurrection life comes not from the bones' effort but from the breath of God breathed into them.
  • When God's people say their hope is lost, he answers by opening graves and giving his own Spirit.
  • God heals division, joining what was broken into one people under one shepherd-king.
  • The great goal of redemption is God dwelling among his people forever as their God.
  • God speaks life where there is only death. He commands Ezekiel to prophesy, “you dry bones, hear Yahweh’s word” (Ezekiel 37:4, WEB), and the dead come together at his word.
  • The Spirit gives life, not human strength. Bones, sinew, flesh, and skin remain lifeless until God says, “I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live” (Ezekiel 37:14, WEB).
  • God restores hope to the hopeless. To those who say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost” (Ezekiel 37:11, WEB), he promises to open their graves and bring them home.
  • Christ is the one shepherd who unites his people. “My servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd” (Ezekiel 37:24, WEB), fulfilled in Jesus who gathers one flock.
  • God’s aim is to dwell with his people. “My tent also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Ezekiel 37:27, WEB), the heartbeat of the whole Bible.
  1. When God asks, “can these bones live?” Ezekiel answers, “Lord Yahweh, you know” (37:3). What does that answer reveal about faith in impossible situations?
  2. The bones come together but have no breath until Ezekiel prophesies to the wind. Why does the chapter separate these two stages?
  3. Israel says, “our hope is lost; we are clean cut off” (37:11). How does God respond to despair like this?
  4. How does the joining of the two sticks under one shepherd-king point forward to Jesus (see John 10:16)?
  5. Where in your life feels like a valley of dry bones, and how does this chapter invite you to trust the God who raises the dead?
  1. Ezekiel neither presumes nor despairs; he simply entrusts the impossible to God, who alone knows and alone can act. Help the group see that faith often begins by handing the unanswerable question back to the Lord rather than answering it ourselves.
  2. The two stages stress that mere outward restoration is not life; bodies without breath are still corpses. Only the Spirit of God, the breath from the four winds, makes a people truly alive—a pattern of new birth and resurrection.
  3. God meets their despair not with a rebuke but with a promise: he will open their graves, give his Spirit, and bring them home (37:12-14). Encourage the group that God speaks tenderly to the hopeless and acts to revive them.
  4. Two divided kingdoms become one nation under one king; Jesus speaks of other sheep he must bring so there will be “one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16). The vision anticipates the unity Christ creates among all his people.
  5. This is a personal-application question. Invite members to name, even silently, a place of deadness—a relationship, a hope, a faith grown cold—and to ask God for his life-giving Spirit. Keep the tone full of resurrection hope.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), the King James Version (KJV), and the American Standard Version (ASV), all of which are in the public domain.