¹⁶ Now you, son of man, take one piece of wood and write on it: “Belonging to Judah and belonging to the people of Israel associated with him.” Then take another piece of wood and write on it: “Belonging to Joseph, Ephraim’s piece of wood, and the whole house of Israel associated with him.” ¹⁷ Then hold one piece of wood close to the other to make a single board for yourself, so that they are one in your hand.

¹⁸ When your countrymen say to you, “Won’t you tell us what you mean by these things?” ¹⁹ you tell them, “This is what the Lord God says. I am going to take the piece of wood which is in the hand of Ephraim, which is for Joseph and for the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will attach it to the piece of wood for Judah. In this way I will make them one board, so that they will be one in my hand.” ²⁰ The boards on which you will write should be in your hand in front of their eyes.

²¹ Then say this to them. This is what the Lord God says. I am going to take the people of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from all around, and I will bring them to their own land. ²² I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will be king for all of them. Never again will they be two nations, and never again will they be divided into two kingdoms. ²³ Never again will they defile themselves with their filthy idols, with their disgusting practices, and with all their rebellious actions. I will save them from all their backsliding by which they have sinned,^[a] and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

²⁴ My servant David will be King over them, and they will all have one Shepherd. They will follow my ordinances and be conscientious about keeping my statutes. ²⁵ They will live on the land I gave my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They will live there permanently—they, their children, and their grandchildren—and my servant David will be their prince forever. ²⁶ I will make a covenant of peace with them. It will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will establish them, and I will multiply them and set my sanctuary in their midst forever. ²⁷ My Dwelling Place will be over them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. ²⁸ Then the nations will know that I, the Lord, make Israel holy when my holy place is in their midst forever.