Ezekiel 37:15-23

New International Reader's Version

Israel Will Be One Nation Under One King

¹⁵ A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, ¹⁶ “Son of man, get a stick of wood. Write on it, ‘Belonging to the tribe of Judah and the Israelites who are connected with it.’ Then get another stick. Write on it, ‘Ephraim’s stick. Belonging to the tribes of Joseph and all the Israelites connected with them.’ ¹⁷ Join them together into one stick in your hand.

¹⁸ “Your people will ask you, ‘What do you mean by this?’ ¹⁹ Tell them, ‘The Lord and King says, “I am going to get the stick of Joseph and the Israelites connected with it. That stick is in Ephraim’s hand. I am going to join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them a single stick of wood in my hand.” ’ ²⁰ Show them the sticks you wrote on. ²¹ Tell them, ‘The Lord and King says, “I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them together from all around. I will bring them back to their own land. ²² There I will make them one nation. They will live on the mountains of Israel. All of them will have one king. They will never be two nations again. They will never again be separated into two kingdoms. ²³ They will no longer make themselves ‘unclean’ by worshiping any of their evil gods. They will not do wrong things anymore. They always turn away from me. But I will save them from that sin. I will make them pure and ‘clean.’ They will be my people. And I will be their God.