| | 1 | Ask the LORD for rain in the springtime; it is the LORD who makes the storm clouds. He gives showers of rain to men, and plants of the field to everyone. | |
| | 2 | The idols speak deceit, 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 house 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 will be like mighty men trampling the muddy streets in battle. Because the LORD is with them, they will fight and overthrow the horsemen. | |
| | 6 | "I will strengthen the house of Judah and save the house 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 mighty men, 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 walk," declares the LORD. | |
