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 of the Israelites connected with them.’ ¹⁷Join them together into one stick in your hand.

¹⁸“The people of your own country will ask you, ‘What do you mean by this?’ ¹⁹Tell 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. They will become a single stick of wood in my hand.” ’

²⁰“Show them the sticks you wrote on. ²¹Tell 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. ²²There 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 pollute themselves 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.

²⁴“ ‘ “A man who belongs to the family line of my servant David will be their king. All of them will have one shepherd. They will follow my laws. And they will be careful to keep my rules.

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