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Pentecost Season · Pentecost Sunday: Vigil · Year C

Ezekiel 37:1-14 or Joel 3:1-5

The Valley of Dry Bones / The Outpouring of the Spirit

June 4, 2028

The Vision of Ezekiel, Francisco Collantes
The Vision of Ezekiel, Francisco Collantes, 1630Museo del Prado
A Spanish Baroque landscape of the valley of dry bones, painted as weather: the bones in the foreground, the storm doing the work, the prophet small and off to one side.It is this reading, and it keeps the prophet small, which is the point the reading makes about who is doing the raising.Francisco CollantesA Madrid painter of the generation around Velázquez, known almost entirely for landscape and for this one visionary subject.Museo del PradoBuilt on the Spanish royal collection, which is why it is unrivalled in Titian, Velázquez, Rubens and Goya and thinner elsewhere.Museo del Prado
Roman Lectionary
GospelJohn 7:37-39Jn 7:37-39
Second ReadingRom. 8:22-27Rom 8:22-27
First ReadingGen. 11:1-9Gn 11:1-9 orExod. 19:3-8a, 16-20bEx 19:3-8a, 16-20bAlt. 1st ReadingEzek. 37:1-14Ez 37:1-14 orJoel 3:1-5Jl 3:1-5
Responsorial PsalmPs. 104:1-2a, 24+35c, 27-28, 29b-30 (cf. 30)Ps 104:1-2a, 24+35c, 27-28, 29b-30 (cf. 30)

Overview & Insights

"Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.'" (Ezekiel 37:9)

Ezekiel is set down in a valley of dry bones and commanded to prophesy breath, ruach, into them, a vision of Israel's national restoration that becomes a natural type for the Spirit's life-giving descent at Pentecost. The alternate, Joel 3:1-5 (Hebrew 3:1-5, corresponding to the passage Peter quotes at Pentecost), promises that God will pour out his spirit on all flesh.

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Take it further: Ezekiel 37:1-14 or Joel 3:1-5

Commentary

Ezekiel 37 CommentaryEz 37 Commentary Enduring Word · David Guzik

Walks through the valley of dry bones as both a vision and its stated national interpretation.

Ezekiel 37 CommentaryEz 37 Commentary Precept Austin

Compiles multiple commentators on the resurrection imagery of the dry bones.

Ezekiel 37:1 CommentariesEz 37:1 Commentaries BibleHub

Classic commentaries together on the valley vision and the command to prophesy.

Ezekiel 37 (Barnes' Notes)Ez 37 (Barnes' Notes) StudyLight

Barnes explains the vision's setting during the exile and its promise of restoration.

Commentary on Ezekiel 37:1-14Commentary on Ez 37:1-14 Working Preacher

A Lutheran preaching voice on how the vision moves from despair to Spirit-given hope.

Joel 3 CommentaryJl 3 Commentary Enduring Word · David Guzik

Covers the alternate reading's promise of the Spirit poured out on all flesh.

Ezekiel 37:1-14 InterlinearEz 37:1-14 Interlinear BibleHub

Hebrew text word by word for the prophecy to the breath.

Ezekiel 37:1-14 CommentaryEz 37:1-14 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching

Preaching-focused reflection on hope for a people who say their bones are dried up.

Background & Word Study

Ezekiel 37:1-14Ez 37:1-14 Sefaria

Hebrew and English text of the dry bones vision with cross-references.

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