Ezekiel 37:9 (WEB)

Passage

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.”’”

Nearby Context

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

Ezekiel 37:8 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.

Ezekiel 37:9 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.”’”

Ezekiel 37:10 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.

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 is lost. We are completely cut off.’

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "prophesy", "wind", "tell", "thus", and "says". 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 "I saw and behold there were sinews..." 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.