Judah and Israel Back Together

¹⁵ The ·Lord spoke his word [^Lword of the Lord came] to me, saying, ¹⁶ “·Human [^TSon of man; 2:1], take ·a [one] ·stick [branch] and write on it, ‘For Judah and all the Israelites with him.’ Then take another ·stick [branch] and write on it, ‘The ·stick [branch] of Ephraim, for Joseph and all the ·Israelites [^Lhouse of Israel; ^Cthe northern kingdom] with him.’ ¹⁷ Then join them together into one stick so they will be one in your hand.

¹⁸ “When your people say to you, ‘Explain to us what you mean by this,’ ¹⁹ say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I will take the ·stick [branch] for Joseph and the tribes of Israel with him, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and I will put it with the ·stick [branch] of Judah. I will make them into one ·stick [branch], and they will be one in my hand [^Cthe northern and southern kingdoms will be united again; 33:29; Jer. 3:18; 23:5–6; Hos. 1:11; Amos 9:11].’ ²⁰ Hold the sticks on which you wrote these names in your hand ·so the people can see them [^Lbefore their eyes]. ²¹ Say to the people, ‘This is what the Lord God says: [^LLook; ^TBehold] I am going to take the ·people [^Lhouse] of Israel from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them into their own land. ²² I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule all of them. They will never again be two nations; they will not be divided into two kingdoms anymore. ²³ They will not continue to ·make themselves unclean [defile themselves] by their idols, their ·statues of gods which I hate [detestable things], or by ·their sins [all their transgressions/offenses]. I will save them from all ·the ways they sin and turn against me [their backsliding/unfaithfulness/apostasies], and I will ·make them clean [purify them]. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.

²⁴ “‘My servant David will be their king [34:23], and they will all have one shepherd. They will ·live by [^Lwalk in] my ·laws [rules; judgments] and be careful to keep my ·rules [statutes]. ²⁵ They will live on the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land in which your ·ancestors [fathers] lived. They will all live on the land forever: they, their children, and their grandchildren. David my servant will be their king forever. ²⁶ I will make an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] of peace with them, an ·agreement that continues forever [everlasting covenant/treaty; Jer. 31:31–34]. I will ·put them in their land [establish them] and ·make them grow in number [multiply them; Gen. 12:1–3]. Then I will put my ·Temple [sanctuary] among them forever. ²⁷ ·The place where I live [My dwelling place] will be with them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. ²⁸ When my ·Temple [sanctuary] is among them forever, the nations will know that I, the Lord, ·make Israel holy [sanctify Israel].’”