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?’