The Lord promises to bring back his people
1When it is time for the rain to come,
but it does not rain,
you must ask the Lord for rain.
It is the Lord who makes the clouds
full of water so that it can rain.
He is the One who gives rain to the plants in the field.
2Yes, don't believe what idols say.
Their words are worthless
and the fortune-tellers are telling lies to you.
They say they have dreamed that it will rain,
but it is not_true, and nothing happens.
My people have listened to them
and now they are like sheep that are lost,
and don't have a shepherd.
3The Lord says He is angry
with the leaders_of_Israel
and He will punish them
because they have done wrong.
Yes, the people of Judah are the flock of sheep
of the Lord who rules over all,
and He has punished them.
But now they will be the Lord's horses.
He will be proud of them
and use them to go to war.
4Now there will be leaders_of_Judah who are strong.
They will be as strong as corner-stones and tent-pegs.
The Lord will use them to go to war
like a soldier uses a bow_and_arrow.
The enemies who have oppressed the people of Judah
will run away and flee.
5The new leaders will be strong like soldiers
who trample the enemies,
like people who walk on mud in the streets.
The new leaders_of_Judah
will make war_against their enemies,
because God is with them.
They will also defeat their enemies
on horses and make them flee.
6The Lord says:
‘I will make the people of Judah strong,
but I will also help the people of Israel,
the descendants of Joseph.
I will bring them back,
and I will be good to them again.
It will seem as if I have never left them.
I will do it because I am the Lord their God.
I will listen to their prayers.
7The people of Ephraim will be like good soldiers.
They will be happy like people who have drunk wine.
Their children will see what I have done
and they will also be happy.
8I will whistle and call the people of Ephraim
and they will come together.
Yes, I will save them and they will again
be as many as they were before.
9I took them away and I made them
live among other nations.
They were far away in other places,
but they remembered Me
and they thought about Me.
That is why they and their children will live
and they will come back.
10I will call them to come together
and I will bring them back from Egypt and Assyria.
I will bring them back to the land of Gilead
and the Lebanon Mountain.
There will be so many
that there will not be enough place for them all.
11They will go through a sea of trouble,
but I will make the waves of the sea calm.
I will hit the deep water of the Nile River
and the river will become dry.
Then the people of Assyria
will not be proud anymore
and the Egyptians will not rule.
12The people of Ephraim will be strong
because I am with them.
Everyone will see that they belong only to Me.’
This is what the Lord says.
