¹ Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime.
    It is the Lord who makes the storm clouds.
He will send forth the showers of rain
    and grass in the fields for everyone.
² For the household gods utter nonsense,
    and diviners are misled by false signs.
The dreams they relate are deceitful,
    offering empty consolation.
That is why the people
    wander about like sheep;
they are in distress
    for lack of a shepherd.

³ My anger has been set ablaze by the shepherds,
    and I will punish the leaders of the flock.
For the Lord of hosts cares for his flock,
    the house of Judah,
    and will make it his royal warhorse.
⁴ From Judah will emerge the cornerstone,
    from it the tent peg,
from it the bow ready for battle,
    from it all the commanders.
⁵ Together they will be like warriors
    trampling the mud of the streets in battle.
They will fight because the Lord is with them,
    and they will rout even those on horseback.
⁶ I will strengthen the house of Judah,
    and I will save the house of Joseph.
I will bring them back
    because I have taken pity on them,
and they will be
    as though I had never cast them off;
for I am the Lord, their God,
    and I will answer them.
⁷ Then the people of Ephraim will be like warriors,
    and their hearts will be cheered as if by wine.
Their children will see it and rejoice;
    their hearts will rejoice in the Lord.
⁸ I will signal them to gather together,
    for I have redeemed them;
they will be as numerous
    as they were before.
⁹ I scattered them among the nations,
    yet in far-off countries they will remember me;
    they will rear their children and return.
¹⁰ I will bring them home from the land of Egypt
    and gather them from Assyria.
I will lead them into Gilead and into Lebanon,
    until there is no more room to accommodate them.
¹¹ They will pass through the Sea of Egypt,
    and the waves of the sea will be subdued,
    while the depths of the Nile will be dried up.
The pride of Assyria will be cast down,
    and the scepter of Egypt will be taken away.
¹² I will make them strong in the Lord,
    and they will march in my name,
    says the Lord.