1 - Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone.
2 - The idols speak deceitfully, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
3 - "My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord Almighty will care for his flock, the people of Judah, and make them like a proud horse in battle.
4 - From Judah will come the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler.
5 - Together they
6 - "I will strengthen Judah and save the tribes of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them. They will be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the Lord their God and I will answer them.
7 - The Ephraimites will become like warriors, and their hearts will be glad as with wine. Their children will see it and be joyful; their hearts will rejoice in the Lord.
8 - I will signal for them and gather them in. Surely I will redeem them; they will be as numerous as before.
9 - Though I scatter them among the peoples, yet in distant lands they will remember me. They and their children will survive, and they will return.
10 - I will bring them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanon, and there will not be room enough for them.
11 - They will pass through the sea of trouble; the surging sea will be subdued and all the depths of the Nile will dry up. Assyria's pride will be brought down and Egypt's scepter will pass away.
12 - I will strengthen them in the Lord and in his name they will live securely," declares the Lord.