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15 And the word of Yahweh came[a] to me, saying,[b] 16 “And you, son of man,[c] take for yourself a piece of wood,[d] and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the Israelites[e] his associates,’ and take another piece of wood, and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the piece of wood of[f] Ephraim and all of the house of Israel his associates.’ 17 And join them one to the other with respect to you as one piece of wood, so that they may become one in your hand. 18 When[g] your people[h] say to you, saying,[i] ‘Will you not inform us as to what these actions mean for you?’ 19 Then speak to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am taking the piece of wood for Joseph that is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel its associates, and I will put them on it, the piece of wood of Judah, and I will make them into one piece of wood, so that they be one in my hand.’” 20 And the pieces of wood on which you wrote will be in your hand before their eyes. 21 And speak to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am taking the Israelites[j] from among the nations to which they went,[k] and I will gather them from everywhere,[l] and I will bring them to their own soil. 22 And I will make them into one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and they will all have one king as their king,[m] and they[n] will not again be two nations and will not again divide into two kingdoms again. 23 And they will not defile themselves again with their idols and with vile idols and with all of their transgressions, and I will save them from all of their apostasy by which they sinned,[o] and I will cleanse them and they will be for me as a people and I, I will be for them as God.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 37:15 Literally “was”
  2. Ezekiel 37:15 Literally “to say”
  3. Ezekiel 37:16 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  4. Ezekiel 37:16 Literally “a piece of wood one”
  5. Ezekiel 37:16 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  6. Ezekiel 37:16 Or “for”
  7. Ezekiel 37:18 Literally “as that”
  8. Ezekiel 37:18 Literally “the children of your people”
  9. Ezekiel 37:18 Literally “to say”
  10. Ezekiel 37:21 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  11. Ezekiel 37:21 Literally “which they went there”
  12. Ezekiel 37:21 Literally “all around”
  13. Ezekiel 37:22 Literally “and king one he will be for all of them to king”
  14. Ezekiel 37:22 According to the reading tradition (Qere)
  15. Ezekiel 37:23 Or “which they sinned by them”

The Reunification of Israel

15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, take a single stick and write on it:(A) Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him. Then take another stick and write on it: Belonging to Joseph—the stick of Ephraim—and all the house of Israel associated with him.(B) 17 Then join them together into a single stick so that they become one in your hand.(C) 18 When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you explain to us what you mean by these things?’—(D) 19 tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and put them together with the stick of Judah. I will make them into a single stick so that they become one in my hand.’

20 “When the sticks you have written on are in your hand and in full view of the people,(E) 21 tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I am going to take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone.(F) I will gather them from all around and bring them into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land,(G) on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over all of them.(H) They will no longer be two nations and will no longer be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will not defile themselves anymore with their idols,(I) their abhorrent things, and all their transgressions.(J) I will save them from all their apostasies by which[a] they sinned,(K) and I will cleanse them. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.(L)

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Footnotes

  1. 37:23 Some Hb mss, LXX, Sym; other Hb mss read their settlements where