“ Son of man, get a stick of wood. Write on it,‘ Belonging to the tribe of Judah and the Israelites who are connected with it.’ Then get another stick. Write on it,‘ Ephraim’s stick. Belonging to the tribes of Joseph and all the Israelites connected with them.’

“人子啊，你要取一根木杖，在其上写‘为犹大和他的同伴以色列人’；又取一根木杖，在其上写‘为约瑟，就是为以法莲，又为他的同伴以色列全家’。

“人子啊，你要取一根木杖，在其上写‘为犹大和他的盟友以色列人’；又取一根木杖，在其上写‘为约瑟，就是以法莲的杖，和他的盟友以色列全家’。

“人子啊，你要取一根木杖，在其上写‘为犹大和他的盟友以色列人’；又取一根木杖，在其上写‘为约瑟，就是以法莲的杖，和他的盟友以色列全家’。

“人子啊，你拿一根杖来，写上‘犹大和他的以色列同伴’，然后再拿另一根杖，写上‘约瑟，即以法莲，与他的以色列同伴’。

“人子啊！你要拿一根木杖，在上面写‘犹大和那些与他一起的以色列人’；又拿另一根木杖，在上面写‘以法莲的木杖，就是约瑟和与他一起的以色列全家’。

「人子啊，你要取一根木杖，在其上寫『為猶大和他的同伴以色列人』；又取一根木杖，在其上寫『為約瑟，就是為以法蓮，又為他的同伴以色列全家』。

「人子啊，你要取一根木杖，在其上寫『為猶大和他的盟友以色列人』；又取一根木杖，在其上寫『為約瑟，就是以法蓮的杖，和他的盟友以色列全家』。

「人子啊，你要取一根木杖，在其上寫『為猶大和他的盟友以色列人』；又取一根木杖，在其上寫『為約瑟，就是以法蓮的杖，和他的盟友以色列全家』。

「人子啊，你拿一根杖來，寫上『猶大和他的以色列同伴』，然後再拿另一根杖，寫上『約瑟，即以法蓮，與他的以色列同伴』。

“人子啊！你要拿一根木杖，在上面寫‘猶大和那些與他一起的以色列人’；又拿另一根木杖，在上面寫‘以法蓮的木杖，就是約瑟和與他一起的以色列全家’。

『人子啊，你要取一根木棍，上面寫上：「代表猶大和跟他聯合的以色列人」；又取一根木棍，上面寫上：「代表約瑟（以法蓮）和跟他聯合的以色列全家」。

人子歟、其取一杖、書於上曰、是為猶大、及同儕以色列族、又取一杖、書於上曰、是為約瑟之以法蓮、及同儕以色列全家、

人子、爾當取一簡、書曰、猶大及同居之以色列族、又取一簡、書曰約瑟之以法蓮及同居之以色列族、

人子、當取一木簡、木簡或作木杖下同其上書曰、猶大與其同儕以色列族、又取一木簡、其上書曰、約瑟之以法蓮、與其同儕以色列全族、

“ Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it,‘ Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it,‘ Belonging to Joseph( that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’

“ Son of man, take a stick and write on it,‘ For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it,‘ For Joseph( the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’

“ Son of man, take a piece of wood and carve on it these words:‘ This represents Judah and its allied tribes.’ Then take another piece and carve these words on it:‘ This represents Ephraim and the northern tribes of Israel.’

“ Son of man, take a single stick and write on it: Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him. Then take another stick and write on it: Belonging to Joseph— the stick of Ephraim— and all the house of Israel associated with him.

“ Now you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it,‘ For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it,‘ For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’

“ As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it:‘ For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it,‘ For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.’

And thou, son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:

“ Son of man, take a single stick and write on it: Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him. Then take another stick and write on it: Belonging to Joseph— the stick of Ephraim— and all the house of Israel associated with him.

Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and[ for] all the house of Israel his companions:

“ As for you, son of man, take one branch, and write on it,‘ For Judah, and for the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another branch and write on it,‘ For Joseph, the branch of Ephraim and all the house of Israel associated with him.’

“ You, son of man, take one stick, and write on it,‘ For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions.’ Then take another stick, and write on it,‘ For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions.’

Then Asa gathered together all the people of Judah and Benjamin. He also gathered together the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who were living among them. Large numbers of people had come over to him from Israel. They came because they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

But Rehoboam still ruled over the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah.

Israel has refused to follow the royal family of David to this day.

“ Speak to the Israelites. Get 12 walking sticks from them. Get one from the leader of each of Israel’s tribes. Write the name of each man on his walking stick.Write Aaron’s name on Levi’s walking stick. There must be one stick for the head of each of Israel’s tribes.

All the Israelites saw that the king refused to listen to them. So they answered the king. They said,“ We don’t have any share in David’s royal family. We don’t have any share in Jesse’s son. People of Israel, let’s go back to our homes. David’s royal family, take care of your own kingdom!” So the Israelites went home.But Rehoboam still ruled over the Israelites living in the towns of Judah.Adoniram was in charge of those who were forced to work hard for King Rehoboam. The king sent him out among all the Israelites. But they killed Adoniram by throwing stones at him. King Rehoboam was able to get away in his chariot. He escaped to Jerusalem.Israel has refused to follow the royal family of David to this day.All the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned. They sent for him. They wanted him to meet with the whole community. Then they made him king over the entire nation of Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained true to David’s royal family.

Rehoboam made those cities even more secure. He put commanders in them. He gave the cities plenty of food, olive oil and wine.He put shields and spears in all those cities. He made them very strong. So he ruled over Judah and Benjamin.The priests and Levites were on Rehoboam’s side. They came from their territories all over Israel.The Levites even left their grasslands and other property behind. They came to Judah and Jerusalem. That’s because Jeroboam and his sons had refused to accept them as priests of the Lord.Jeroboam had appointed his own priests to serve at the high places. He had made statues of gods that looked like goats and calves. His priests served those gods.Some people from every tribe in Israel followed the Levites to Jerusalem. With all their hearts they wanted to worship the Lord. He is the God of Israel. They came to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to him. He was the God of their people of long ago.All those who came to Jerusalem made the kingdom of Judah strong. They helped Solomon’s son Rehoboam for three years. During that time they lived the way David and Solomon had lived.

In spite of that, some people from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun made themselves humble. They went to Jerusalem.God helped the people of Judah. He helped them agree with one another. So they did what the king and his officials had ordered. They did what the Lord told them to do.A very large crowd of people gathered together in Jerusalem. They went there to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It took place in the second month.They removed the altars in Jerusalem. They cleared away the altars for burning incense. They threw all the altars into the Kidron Valley.They killed the Passover lamb on the 14th day of the second month. The priests and Levites were ashamed of how they had lived. They set themselves apart to the Lord. They brought burnt offerings to his temple.Then they did their regular tasks just as the Law of Moses, the man of God, required. The Levites gave the blood of the animals to the priests. The priests splashed it against the altar.Many people in the crowd hadn’t set themselves apart to the Lord. They weren’t“ clean.” They couldn’t set apart their lambs to him. So the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs for all of them.Many people came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun. Most of them hadn’t made themselves pure and“ clean.” But they still ate the Passover meal. That was against what was written in the law. But Hezekiah prayed for them. He said,“ The Lord is good. May he forgive everyone