| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1Ask the LORD for rain in the spring, for he makes the storm clouds. And he will send showers of rain so every field becomes a lush pasture. | 1Ask the LORD for rain in the season of the late spring rains--the LORD who causes thunderstorms--and he will give everyone showers of rain and green growth in the field. |
| 2Household gods give worthless advice, fortune-tellers predict only lies, and interpreters of dreams pronounce falsehoods that give no comfort. So my people are wandering like lost sheep; they are attacked because they have no shepherd. | 2For the household gods have spoken wickedness, the soothsayers have seen a lie, and as for the dreamers, they have disclosed emptiness and give comfort in vain. Therefore the people set out like sheep and become scattered because they have no shepherd. |
| 3“My anger burns against your shepherds, and I will punish these leaders. For the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has arrived to look after Judah, his flock. He will make them strong and glorious, like a proud warhorse in battle. | 3I am enraged at the shepherds and will punish the lead-goats. For the LORD who rules over all has brought blessing to his flock, the house of Judah, and will transform them into his majestic warhorse. |
| 4From Judah will come the cornerstone, the tent peg, the bow for battle, and all the rulers. | 4From him will come the cornerstone, the wall peg, the battle bow, and every ruler. |
| 5They will be like mighty warriors in battle, trampling their enemies in the mud under their feet. Since the LORD is with them as they fight, they will overthrow even the enemy’s horsemen. | 5And they will be like warriors trampling the mud of the streets in battle. They will fight, for the LORD will be with them, and will defeat the enemy cavalry. |
| 6“I will strengthen Judah and save Israel ; I will restore them because of my compassion. It will be as though I had never rejected them, for I am the LORD their God, who will hear their cries. | 6"I (says the LORD) will strengthen the kingdom of Judah and deliver the people of Joseph and will bring them back because of my compassion for them. They will be as though I had never rejected them, for I am the LORD their God and therefore I will hear them. |
| 7The people of Israel will become like mighty warriors, and their hearts will be made happy as if by wine. Their children, too, will see it and be glad; their hearts will rejoice in the LORD. | 7The Ephraimites will be like warriors and will rejoice as if they had drunk wine. Their children will see it and rejoice; they will celebrate in the things of the LORD. |
| 8When I whistle to them, they will come running, for I have redeemed them. From the few who are left, they will grow as numerous as they were before. | 8I will signal for them and gather them, for I have already redeemed them; then they will become as numerous as they were before. |
| 9Though I have scattered them like seeds among the nations, they will still remember me in distant lands. They and their children will survive and return again to Israel. | 9Though I scatter them among the nations, they will remember in far-off places--they and their children will sprout forth and return. |
| 10I will bring them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will resettle them in Gilead and Lebanon until there is no more room for them all. | 10I will bring them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them to the lands of Gilead and Lebanon, for there will not be enough room for them in their own land. |
| 11They will pass safely through the sea of distress, for the waves of the sea will be held back, and the waters of the Nile will dry up. The pride of Assyria will be crushed, and the rule of Egypt will end. | 11The LORD will cross the sea of storms and will calm its turbulence. The depths of the Nile will dry up, the pride of Assyria will be humbled, and the domination of Egypt will be no more. |
| 12By my power I will make my people strong, and by my authority they will go wherever they wish. I, the LORD, have spoken!” | 12Thus I will strengthen them by my power, and they will walk about in my name," says the LORD. |
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