¹⁸ In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel,^(A) and together^(B) they will come from a northern^(C) land to the land^(D) I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.

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)

God’s Love for Israel