The Valley of Dry Bones

1 ^dThe hand of the Lord was upon me, and ^ehe brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley;¹ it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, ^f“Son of man, ^gcan these bones live?” And ^hI answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, ⁱ“Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, ^jO dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause ^kbreath² to enter you, and you shall live. 6 ^lAnd I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and ^lcover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, ^mand you shall know that I am the Lord.”

7 So I prophesied ⁿas I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, ^oa rattling,³ and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But ^pthere was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, ⁱ“Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, ^fson of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from ^qthe four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied ⁿas he commanded me, and ^rthe breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

11 Then he said to me, ^f“Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and ^sour hope is lost; ^twe are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore ⁱprophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, ^uI will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And ^vI will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And ^wyou shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And ^xI will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; ^yI have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

Peter Speaks in Solomon’s Portico

11 ^yWhile he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in ^zthe portico called Solomon’s. 12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13 ^aThe God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, ^bthe God of our fathers, ^cglorified his servant¹ Jesus, whom ^dyou delivered over and ^edenied in the presence of Pilate, ^fwhen he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied ^gthe Holy and ^hRighteous One, and ⁱasked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed ^jthe Author of life, ^kwhom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And ^lhis name—by ^mfaith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is ⁿthrough Jesus² has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

17 “And now, brothers, I know that ^oyou acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God ^pforetold ^qby the mouth of all the prophets, that ^rhis Christ would ^ssuffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 ^tRepent therefore, and ^uturn back, that ^vyour sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ ^wappointed for you, Jesus, 21 ^xwhom heaven must receive until the time for ^yrestoring all the things about which ^zGod spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you ^aa prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen ^bto him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet ^cshall be destroyed from the people.’ 24 And ^dall the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25 ^eYou are the sons of the prophets and of ^fthe covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ^g‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 ^hGod, ⁱhaving raised up his servant, sent him to you first, ^jto bless you ^kby turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

12 ^p“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 ^qGreater love has no one than this, ^rthat someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are ^smy friends ^tif you do what I command you. 15 ^uNo longer do I call you servants,¹ for the servant ^wdoes not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for ^xall that I have heard from my Father ^yI have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but ^zI chose you and appointed you that you should go and ^abear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that ^bwhatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, ^cso that you will love one another.

The Hatred of the World

18 ^d“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 ^eIf you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because ^fyou are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ^g‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, ^hthey will also persecute you. ⁱIf they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But ^jall these things they will do to you ^kon account of my name, ^lbecause they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, ^mthey would not have been guilty of sin,² but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 ⁿWhoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 ^oIf I had not done among them the works that no one else did, ^mthey would not be guilty of sin, but now they have ^pseen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But ^qthe word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ^r‘They hated me without a cause.’

26 “But ^swhen the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, ^the will bear witness about me. 27 And ^uyou also will bear witness, ^vbecause you have been with me ^wfrom the beginning.