| New Living Translation | New International Version |
| 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 springtime; it is the LORD who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone. |
| 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. | 2The idols speak deceitfully, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a 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. | 3"My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the LORD Almighty will care for his flock, the people of Judah, and make them like a proud horse in battle. |
| 4From Judah will come the cornerstone, the tent peg, the bow for battle, and all the rulers. | 4From Judah will come the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him 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. | 5Together they will be like warriors in battle trampling their enemy into the mud of the streets. They will fight because the LORD is with them, and they will put the enemy horsemen to shame. |
| 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 will strengthen Judah and save the tribes of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them. They will be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the LORD their God and I will answer 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 become like warriors, and their hearts will be glad as with wine. Their children will see it and be joyful; their hearts will rejoice in 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 in. Surely I will redeem them; they will be as numerous as 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 peoples, yet in distant lands they will remember me. They and their children will survive, and they will 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 Gilead and Lebanon, and there will not be room enough for them. |
| 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. | 11They will pass through the sea of trouble; the surging sea will be subdued and all the depths of the Nile will dry up. Assyria's pride will be brought down and Egypt's scepter will pass away. |
| 12By my power I will make my people strong, and by my authority they will go wherever they wish. I, the LORD, have spoken!” | 12I will strengthen them in the LORD and in his name they will live securely," declares the LORD. |
| Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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