God Will Bless Judah and Ephraim
1 Askforrain from the Lordat the time of the spring rain.
It is the Lordwho makes the thunder clouds;
And He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field to everyone.
2 For the teraphim (household idols) speak wickedness (emptiness, worthlessness),
And the diviners see lying visions
And tell false dreams;
They comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wander like sheep,
They are afflictedandsuffer because there is no shepherd.
3 “My anger is kindled against the shepherds [who are not true shepherds],
And I shall punish the male goats (leaders);
For the Lordof hosts has visited His flock, the house of Judah (the Southern Kingdom),
And will make them like His beautifulandmajestic horse in the battle.
4 “From them (Judah) shall come theCornerstone,
From them the tent peg,
From them the bow of battle,
From them every ruler, all of them together.
5 “They will be like mighty men
Trampling downtheir enemiesin the mire of the streets in the battle;
And they will fight because the Lordis with them,
And the [enemies’] riders on horses will be shamed.
6 “I will strengthen the house of Judah [making it superior],
And I will save the house of Joseph.
I will bring them back [and allow them to live securely],
Because I have had compassion on them.
They will be as though I had not rejected them,
For I am the Lordtheir God, and I will listenandanswer them.
7 “ThenEphraim will be like a mighty warrior,
And their heart will rejoice as if from wine;
Yes, their children will see it and rejoice;
Their heart will rejoiceandshout triumphantly in the Lord.
8 “I willwhistle for them and gather them together,
For I have redeemed them;
And they will increase [again] as they have increased before [in Egypt].
9 “When I scatter them among the nations,
They will remember Me in far countries,
And with their children they will live and come back [to Me and the land I gave them].
10 “I will bring them (all Israel) back home again from the land of Egypt
And gather them from Assyria,
And I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon [the land on the east and on the west of the Jordan]
Until no room can be found for them.
11 “And they will pass through the sea of distressandanxiety [with the Lordleading His people, as at the Red Sea]
And He will strike the waves in the sea,
So that all the depths of the Nile will dry up;
And the pride of Assyria will be brought down
And the scepter [of the taskmasters] of Egypt will pass away.
12 “And I will strengthen Israel in the Lord,
And they will walk [and glory] in His name,” declares the Lord.