The Righteous Branch of David

¹⁸ When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you explain to us what you mean by these things?’—^{(A) 19} tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and put them together with the stick of Judah. I will make them into a single stick so that they become one in my hand.’

²⁰ “When the sticks you have written on are in your hand and in full view of the people,^{(B) 21} tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I am going to take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone.^(C) I will gather them from all around and bring them into their own land. ²² I will make them one nation in the land,^(D) on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over all of them.^(E) They will no longer be two nations and will no longer be divided into two kingdoms. ²³ They will not defile themselves anymore with their idols,^(F) their abhorrent things, and all their transgressions.^(G) I will save them from all their apostasies by which^[a] they sinned,^(H) and I will cleanse them. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.^{(I) 24} My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them.^(J) They will follow my ordinances, and keep my statutes and obey them.^(K)

²⁵ “‘They will live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob,^(L) where your ancestors lived. They will live in it forever with their children and grandchildren, and my servant David will be their prince forever.^(M)

⁵ Afterward, the people of Israel will return^(A) and seek the Lord their God and David their king.^(B) They will come with awe to the Lord^(C) and to his goodness in the last days.