Ezekiel 37:9 (LSB)

Passage

Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these who were killed, that they may come to life.”’”

Nearby Context

Ezekiel 37:7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rumbling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

Ezekiel 37:8 And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh came up upon them, and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.

Ezekiel 37:9 Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these who were killed, that they may come to life.”’”

Ezekiel 37:10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great military force.

Ezekiel 37:11 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 has perished. We are completely cut off.’

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "prophesy", "breath", "thus", "says", and "lord". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "prophesy", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "And I looked and behold sinews were..." into verse 10's "So I prophesied as He commanded me...", so "said" and "prophesy" belong inside that flow. In Ezekiel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "said" and "prophesy" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.