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15 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, 16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: 17 and join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.

18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? 19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. 21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into 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 to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: 23 neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

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The Two Sticks

15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 Mortal, take a stick and write on it, “For Judah and the Israelites associated with it”; then take another stick and write on it, “For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with it”;(A) 17 and join them together into one stick, so 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: I am about to take the stick of Joseph (which is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with it, and I will put the stick of Judah upon it[a] and make them one stick, in order that they may be one in my hand.”(B) 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: I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone and will gather them from every quarter and bring them to their own land.(C) 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king over them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms.(D) 23 They shall never again defile themselves with their idols and their detestable things or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all the apostasies into which they have fallen[b] and will cleanse them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 37.19 Heb I will put them upon it
  2. 37.23 Cn: MT from all the settlements in which they have sinned

I Will Be Their God; They Shall Be My People

15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 (A)“Son of man, (B)take a stick[a] and write on it, ‘For (C)Judah, and (D)the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For (E)Joseph (the stick of (F)Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ 17 And (G)join them one to another into one stick, that (H)they may become (I)one in your hand. 18 And when (J)your people say to you, (K)‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’ 19 say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am about to take (L)the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the (M)stick of Judah,[b] and (N)make them one stick, (O)that they may be one in my hand. 20 When the sticks on which you write are in your hand (P)before their eyes, 21 then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, (Q)I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and (R)bring them to their own land. 22 And (S)I will make them one nation in the land, on (T)the mountains of Israel. And (U)one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer (V)two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. 23 (W)They shall not (X)defile themselves anymore (Y)with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But (Z)I will save them from all the backslidings[c] in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and (AA)they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 37:16 Or one piece of wood; also verses 17, 19, 20
  2. Ezekiel 37:19 Hebrew And I will place them on it, the stick of Judah
  3. Ezekiel 37:23 Many Hebrew manuscripts; other Hebrew manuscripts dwellings

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

15 The Lord’s message came to me: 16 “As for you, son of man, take one branch and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another branch and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the branch of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ 17 Join[a] them as one stick;[b] they will be as one in your hand. 18 When your people[c] say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what these things mean?’ 19 tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the branch of Joseph that is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will place them on the stick of Judah[d] and make them into one stick—they will be one in my hand.’[e] 20 The sticks you write on will be in your hand in front of them. 21 Then tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from round about and bring them to their land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all. They will never again be two nations and never again be divided into two kingdoms.[f] 23 They will not defile themselves with their idols, their detestable things, and all their rebellious deeds. I will save them from all their unfaithfulness[g] by which they sinned. I will purify them; they will become my people, and I will become their God.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 37:17 tn Heb “bring near.”
  2. Ezekiel 37:17 tn Heb “one to one for you for one stick.”
  3. Ezekiel 37:18 tn Heb “the sons of your people.”
  4. Ezekiel 37:19 tn Heb “I will place them on it, that is, on the stick of Judah.”
  5. Ezekiel 37:19 sn The reunification of Israel and Judah is envisioned as well in Ezek 33:23, 29; Jer 3:18; 23:5-6; Hos 1:11; Amos 9:11.
  6. Ezekiel 37:22 sn Jeremiah also attested to the reuniting of the northern and southern kingdoms (Jer 3:12, 14; 31:2-6).
  7. Ezekiel 37:23 tc Heb “their dwellings.” The text as it stands does not make sense. Based on the LXX, a slight emendation of two vowels, including a mater lectionis, yields the reading “from their turning,” a reference here to their turning from God and deviating from his commandments. See BDB 1000 s.v. מְשׁוּבָה, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:407.