Ezekiel 37:20 (YLT)

Passage

And the sticks on which thou writest have been in thy hand before thine eyes,

Nearby Context

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?

Ezekiel 37:19 Speak unto them, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am taking the stick of Joseph, that <FI>is<Fi> in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions, and have given them unto him, with the stick of Judah, and have made them become one stick, and they have been one in My hand.

Ezekiel 37:20 And the sticks on which thou writest have been in thy hand before thine eyes,

Ezekiel 37:21 and speak thou unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am taking the sons of Israel, From among the nations whither they have gone, And have gathered them from round about, And I have brought them in unto their land.

Ezekiel 37:22 And I have made them become one nation in the land, on mountains of Israel, And one king is to them all for king, And they are no more as two nations, Nor are they divided any more into two kingdoms again.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sticks", "thou", "writest", "been", "hand", "before", "thine", and "eyes". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sticks" and "thou", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "Speak unto them Thus said the Lord..." into verse 21's "and speak thou unto them Thus said...", so "sticks" and "thou" 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 "sticks" and "thou" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.