Ezekiel 37:21

21 Tell them, 'God, the Master, says, Watch me! I'm taking the Israelites out of the nations in which they've been exiled. I'll gather them in from all directions and bring them back home.

Ezekiel 37:21 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 37:21

And say unto them, thus saith the Lord God
Or, as the Targum,

``thou shalt prophesy to them;''
for what follows is a prophecy of what shall be in the latter day: behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the Heathen,
whither they be gone,
or, "from among the Gentiles" F2; not only the Chaldeans, where they were carried captives; but from among the nations where they are now dispersed, and among whom they go freely of their own accord from place to place, for the sake of traffic: and this phrase, "whither they be gone", or "are going" F3, travelling about from one country to another, better describes the present Jews, and their state, than those in the Babylonian captivity: and will gather them on every side,
or, "round about" F4; from the several parts of the world where they are: and bring them into their own land;
the land of Canaan, given by the Lord to their fathers, and to them their posterity, for an inheritance; though now in the possession of others, who, it seems, are not the right owners.
FOOTNOTES:

F2 (Myywgh Nybm) "e medio ipsarum gentium", Junius & Tremellius; "ex gentibus", Starckius; "e [vel] medio gentium", Piscator, Cocceius.
F3 (wklh) "ambulant, vel ambulantes sunt".
F4 (bybom) "circumquaque", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus, Starckius.

Ezekiel 37:21 In-Context

19 tell them, 'God, the Master, says, Watch me! I'll take the Joseph stick that is in Ephraim's hand, with the tribes of Israel connected with him, and lay the Judah stick on it. I'll make them into one stick. I'm holding one stick.'
20 "Then take the sticks you've inscribed and hold them up so the people can see them.
21 Tell them, 'God, the Master, says, Watch me! I'm taking the Israelites out of the nations in which they've been exiled. I'll gather them in from all directions and bring them back home.
22 I'll make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and give them one king - one king over all of them. Never again will they be divided into two nations, two kingdoms.
23 Never again will they pollute their lives with their no-god idols and all those vile obscenities and rebellions. I'll save them out of all their old sinful haunts. I'll clean them up. They'll be my people! I'll be their God!
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.