Ezekiel 37:16 (YLT)

Passage

`And thou, son of man, take to thee one stick, and write on it, For Judah, and for the sons of Israel, his companions; and take another stick, and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel, his companions,

Nearby Context

Ezekiel 37:14 And I have given My Spirit in you, and ye have lived, And I have caused you to rest on your land, And ye have known that I Jehovah, I have spoken, and I have done <FI>it<Fi> , An affirmation of Jehovah.'

Ezekiel 37:15 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

Ezekiel 37:16 `And thou, son of man, take to thee one stick, and write on it, For Judah, and for the sons of Israel, his companions; and take another stick, and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel, his companions,

Ezekiel 37:17 and bring them near one unto another, to thee, for one stick, and they have become one in thy hand.

Ezekiel 37:18 `And when sons of thy people speak unto thee, saying, Dost thou not declare to us what these <FI>are<Fi> to thee?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "take", "thee", "stick", "write", "judah", "sons", and "israel". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "take", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "And there is a word of Jehovah..." into verse 17's "and bring them near one unto another...", so "thou" and "take" 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 "thou" and "take" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.