Reunion of Judah and Israel

15 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying, 16 “Now you, son of man, take for yourself (A)one stick and write on it, ‘For (B)Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For (C)Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’ 17 Then (D)put them together for yourself one to another into one stick, so that they may become one in your hand. 18 And when the sons of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not declare to us (E)what [a]you mean by these?’ 19 say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am going to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”’ 20 The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. 21 And say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am going to (F)take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them (G)one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and (H)one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations, and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will (I)no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their offenses; but (J)I will rescue them from all their [b]dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 37:18 Lit these are to you
  2. Ezekiel 37:23 Another reading is offenses

The Two Sticks

15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah, and the children of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write upon it, ‘For Joseph (the stick of E′phraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him’; 17 and join them together into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. 18 And when your people say to you, ‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’ 19 say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (which is in the hand of E′phraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him; and I will join[a] with it the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand. 20 When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, 21 then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all sides, and bring them to their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. 23 They shall not defile themselves any more with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 37:19 Heb join them

One Nation Under One King

15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites(A) associated with him.(B)’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’ 17 Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.(C)

18 “When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’(D) 19 say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’(E) 20 Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on 21 and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.(F) 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel.(G) There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.(H) 23 They will no longer defile(I) themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding,[a](J) and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.(K)

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 37:23 Many Hebrew manuscripts (see also Septuagint); most Hebrew manuscripts all their dwelling places where they sinned