Ezekiel's Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones

In one of Scripture’s most vivid visions, the hand of the LORD came upon Ezekiel and set him down in a valley full of bones—very dry bones, representing the utterly dead, beyond any hope of revival. God led him back and forth among them, then asked: “Son of man, can these bones live?”

Ezekiel answered: “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”

God commanded: “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.’”

As Ezekiel prophesied, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. Tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

Then God commanded: “Prophesy to the breath… say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’”

When Ezekiel prophesied, breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

God explained the vision: “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel… I will put my Spirit in you and you will live.’”

The vision addressed the exiles’ despair, promising national restoration. Judaism sees it as a prophecy of Israel’s return from exile and future restoration. Christianity also sees it as foreshadowing bodily resurrection—life from death through God’s Spirit. The vision introduced resurrection imagery into Jewish thought and became central to both Jewish and Christian eschatology.