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.

24 “My servant (AB)David (AC)shall be king over them, and they shall all have (AD)one shepherd. (AE)They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. 25 (AF)They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there (AG)forever, and David my servant shall be their prince (AH)forever. 26 (AI)I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be (AJ)an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land[d] and (AK)multiply them, and will (AL)set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 (AM)My dwelling place shall be with them, (AN)and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Then (AO)the nations will know that (AP)I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when (AQ)my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”

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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
  4. Ezekiel 37:26 Hebrew lacks in their land

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)

24 “‘My servant David(L) will be king(M) over them, and they will all have one shepherd.(N) They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees.(O) 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived.(P) They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever,(Q) and David my servant will be their prince forever.(R) 26 I will make a covenant of peace(S) with them; it will be an everlasting covenant.(T) I will establish them and increase their numbers,(U) and I will put my sanctuary among them(V) forever.(W) 27 My dwelling place(X) will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.(Y) 28 Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy,(Z) when my sanctuary is among them forever.(AA)’”

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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