1. Ask the LORD for rain In the season of late rain. It is the LORD who causes storms; And He will provide rainstorms for them, Grass in the fields for everyone.
2. For the teraphim spoke delusion, The augurs predicted falsely; And dreamers speak lies And console with illusions. That is why My people have strayed like a flock, They suffer for lack of a shepherd.
3. My anger is roused against the shepherds, And I will punish the he-goats. For the LORD of Hosts has taken thought In behalf of His flock, the House of Judah; He will make them like majestic chargers in battle.
4. From them shall come cornerstones, From them tent pegs, From them bows of combat, And every captain shall also arise from them.
5. And together they shall be like warriors in battle, Tramping in the dirt of the streets; They shall fight, for the LORD shall be with them, And they shall put horsemen to shame.
6. I will give victory to the House of Judah, And triumph to the House of Joseph. I will restore them, for I have pardoned them, And they shall be as though I had never disowned them; For I the LORD am their God, And I will answer their prayers.
7. Ephraim shall be like a warrior, And they shall exult as with wine; Their children shall see it and rejoice, They shall exult in the LORD.
8. I will whistle to them and gather them, For I will redeem them; They shall increase and continue increasing.
9. For though I sowed them among the nations, In the distant places they shall remember Me, They shall escape with their children and shall return.
10. I will bring them back from the land of Egypt And gather them from Assyria; And I will bring them to the lands of Gilead and Lebanon, And even they shall not suffice for them.
11. A hemmed-in force shall pass over the sea And shall stir up waves in the sea; And all the deeps of the Nile shall dry up. Down shall come the pride of Assyria, And the scepter of Egypt shall pass away.
12. But I will make them mighty through the LORD, And they shall march proudly in His name -- declares the LORD.
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