Dual Panel1Ask <07592> the Lord <03069> for rain <04306> in the season <06256> of the late spring rains <04456>– the Lord <03069> who causes <06213> thunderstorms <02385>– and he will give <05414> everyone <0376> showers <01653> of rain <04306> and green growth <06212> in the field <07704>.
2For <03588> the household gods <08655> have spoken <01696> wickedness <0205>, the soothsayers <07080> have seen <02372> a lie <08267>, and as for the dreamers <02472>, they have disclosed <01696> emptiness <07723> and give comfort <05162> in <05921> vain <01892>. Therefore <03651> the people set out <05265> like <03644> sheep <06629> and become scattered <06031> because <03588> they have no <0369> shepherd <07462>.
3I am enraged <0639> <02734> at the shepherds <07462> and will punish <06485> the lead-goats <06260>. For <03588> the Lord <03068> who rules over all <06635> has brought blessing <06485> to his flock <05739>, the <0853> house <01004> of Judah <03063>, and will transform <07760> them into his majestic <01935> warhorse <04421> <05483>.
4From <04480> him will come <03318> the cornerstone <06438>, the wall peg <03489>, the battle <04421> bow <07198>, and every <03605> ruler <05065>.
5And they will be <01961> like warriors <01368> trampling <0947> the mud <02916> of the streets <02351> in battle <04421>. They will fight <03898>, for <03588> the Lord <03068> will be with <05973> them, and will defeat <03001> the enemy cavalry <05483> <07392>.
6“I (says the Lord) will strengthen <01396> the kingdom <01004> of Judah <03063> and deliver <03467> the people <01004> of Joseph <03130> and will bring them back <07725> because <03588> of my compassion <07355> for them. They will be <01961> as though <0834> I had never <03808> rejected <02186> them, for <03588> I <0589> am the Lord <03068> their God <0430> and therefore I will hear <06030> them.
7The Ephraimites <0669> will be <01961> like warriors <01368> and will rejoice <08055> as if <03644> they had drunk wine <03196>. Their children <01121> will see <07200> it and rejoice <08056>; they will celebrate <01523> in the things of the Lord <03068>.
8I will signal <08319> for them and gather <06908> them, for <03588> I have already redeemed <06299> them; then they will become as numerous <07235> <07235> as <03644> they were before.
9Though I scatter <02232> them among the nations <05971>, they will remember <02142> in far-off places <04801>– they and their children <01121> will sprout forth <02421> and return <07725>.
10I will bring them back <07725> from Egypt <04714> and gather <06908> them from Assyria <0804>. I will bring <0935> them to <0413> the lands <0776> of Gilead <01568> and Lebanon <03844>, for there will not <03808> be enough room for them in their own land <0776>.
11The Lord will cross <05674> the sea <03220> of storms <06869> and will calm <05221> its turbulence <01530>. The depths <04688> of the Nile <02975> will dry up <03001>, the pride <01347> of Assyria <0804> will be humbled <03381>, and the domination <07626> of Egypt <04714> will be no more <05493>.
12Thus I will strengthen <01396> them by my power <03068>, and they will walk <01980> about in my name <08034>,” says <05002> the Lord <03068>.