Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. The union, effected at the restoration from Babylon embraced but comparatively few of Israel; a future complete fulfillment must therefore be looked for.
Stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim. Ephraim, of the descendants of Joseph, had exercised the rule among the ten tribes: that rule, symbolized by the "stick," was now to be withdrawn from him, and to be made one with the other-Judah's rule-in God's hand.
And will put them. The "stick of Joseph" would strictly require "it;" but Ezekiel expresses the sense-namely, the ten tribes who were subject to it.
With him - i:e., with Judah; or "it," i:e., the stick of Judah.