Yahweh Gives Rain

10 Ask rain from Yahweh in the season of the spring rain—

• Yahweh, who makes storm clouds,
• and he gives showers of rain to them,
  • to everyone vegetation in the field.
  • 2 Because the household gods[fn] speak deceit, and those who practice divination see a lie,
• and the dreamers of vanity speak in vain.
  • Therefore the people wander like sheep;[fn]
• they are afflicted because there is no shepherd.
  • 3 My anger burns[fn] against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders,[fn]
• because Yahweh of hosts watches over his flock,[fn]
  • the house of Judah;
    • and he will make them like his majestic horse in war.
  • 4 From them[fn] the cornerstone will go out, from them[fn] the tent peg,
• from them[fn] the battle bow,
  • from them[fn] every ruler,
    • all together.
  • 5 And they will be like warriors, trampling in the mud of the streets in the battle.
• They will fight, because Yahweh is with them,
  • and they will put to shame the riders on horses.
  • 6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and the house of Joseph I will save.
• And I will bring them back, because I have compassion on them,
  • and they will be as if I had not rejected them,
  • for I am Yahweh their God, and I will answer them.
  • 7 And the people of Ephraim will be like a warrior, and their heart will be glad as with wine.
• And their children will see and rejoice;
  • their heart will shout in exultation in Yahweh.
  • 8 I will whistle to them and gather them, for I have redeemed them,
  • and they will become numerous as they have been numerous before.
  • 9 Though I sow[fn] them among the nations, in the distant places they will remember me,
  • and they will stay alive with their children, and they will return.
  • 10 And I will bring them back from the land of Egypt, and from Assyria I will gather them.
• To the land of Gilead and Lebanon I will bring them,
  • until no room will be found for them there.
  • 11 And he[fn] will pass through the sea of distress, and he will strike the waves of the sea,
  • and all the depths of the Nile will dry up.
• The pride of Assyria will be brought low,
  • and the scepter of Egypt will depart.
  • 12 I will make them strong in Yahweh, and in his name they will walk,
    • declares[fn] Yahweh.

11 Open your doors, O Lebanon,

• so that fire will devour your cedars!
  • 2 Wail, O juniper,[fn] for the cedar has fallen, for the magnificent trees are ruined!
• Wail, oaks of Bashan,
  • for the impenetrable forest has come down!
  • 3 Listen to the wailing of the shepherds, for their splendor is ruined!
• Listen to the roar of the young lions,
  • for the thickets of the Jordan are ruined!