Zechariah 10:1-11:3

New International Version

The Lord Will Care for Judah

10 Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime;
    it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.
He gives showers of rain^(A) to all people,
    and plants of the field^(B) to everyone.
²The idols^(C) speak deceitfully,
    diviners^(D) see visions that lie;
they tell dreams^(E) that are false,
    they give comfort in vain.^(F)
Therefore the people wander like sheep
    oppressed for lack of a shepherd.^(G)

³“My anger burns against the shepherds,
    and I will punish the leaders;^(H)
for the Lord Almighty will care
    for his flock, the people of Judah,
    and make them like a proud horse in battle.^(I)
⁴From Judah will come the cornerstone,^(J)
    from him the tent peg,^(K)
from him the battle bow,^(L)
    from him every ruler.
⁵Together they^[a] will be like warriors in battle
    trampling their enemy into the mud of the streets.^(M)
They will fight because the Lord is with them,
    and they will put the enemy horsemen to shame.^(N)

⁶“I will strengthen^(O) Judah
    and save the tribes of Joseph.
I will restore them
    because I have compassion^(P) on them.^(Q)
They will be as though
    I had not rejected them,
for I am the Lord their God
    and I will answer^(R) them.
⁷The Ephraimites will become like warriors,
    and their hearts will be glad as with wine.^(S)
Their children will see it and be joyful;
    their hearts will rejoice^(T) in the Lord.
⁸I will signal^(U) for them
    and gather them in.
Surely I will redeem them;
    they will be as numerous^(V) as before.
⁹Though I scatter them among the peoples,
    yet in distant lands they will remember me.^(W)
They and their children will survive,
    and they will return.
¹⁰I will bring them back from Egypt
    and gather them from Assyria.^(X)
I will bring them to Gilead^(Y) and Lebanon,
    and there will not be room^(Z) enough for them.
¹¹They will pass through the sea of trouble;
    the surging sea will be subdued
    and all the depths of the Nile will dry up.^(AA)
Assyria’s pride^(AB) will be brought down
    and Egypt’s scepter^(AC) will pass away.^(AD)
¹²I will strengthen^(AE) them in the Lord
    and in his name they will live securely,^(AF)”
declares the Lord.

11 Open your doors, Lebanon,^(AG)
    so that fire^(AH) may devour your cedars!
²Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen;
    the stately trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks^(AI) of Bashan;
    the dense forest^(AJ) has been cut down!^(AK)
³Listen to the wail of the shepherds;
    their rich pastures are destroyed!
Listen to the roar of the lions;^(AL)
    the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!^(AM)