Ezekiel 37:18 (GNV)

Passage

And when the children of thy people shall speake vnto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shewe vs what thou meanest by these?

Nearby Context

Ezekiel 37:16 Moreouer thou sonne of man, take thee a piece of wood, and write vpon it, Vnto Iudah, and to the children of Israel his companions the take another piece of wood, and write vpon it, Vnto Ioseph the tree of Ephraim, and to al the house of Israel his companions.

Ezekiel 37:17 And thou shalt ioyne the one to another into one tree, and they shalbe as one in thine hand.

Ezekiel 37:18 And when the children of thy people shall speake vnto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shewe vs what thou meanest by these?

Ezekiel 37:19 Thou shalt answere them, Thus sayeth the Lord God, Behold, I wil take the tree of Ioseph, which is in the hande of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellowes, and will put them with him, euen with the tree of Iudah, and make them one tree, and they shalbe one in mine hand.

Ezekiel 37:20 And the pieces of wood, whereon thou writest, shalbe in thine hand, in their sight.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "children", "people", "shall", "speake", "vnto", "thee", "saying", and "wilt". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "children" and "people", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "And thou shalt ioyne the one to..." into verse 19's "Thou shalt answere them Thus sayeth the...", so "children" and "people" belong inside that flow. In Ezekiel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "children" and "people" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.