Ask the Lord for Rain
Study note
God tells His people to ask Him for rain instead of turning to idols and fortune-tellers who give false answers. The people had been wandering like sheep without a shepherd because their leaders had failed them. God was angry at these bad shepherds. But from the people of Judah, God would raise up strong leaders: the cornerstone, the tent peg, and the battle bow.
1 Ask the LORD for rain when springtime comes. The LORD is the one who builds the thunderclouds. He sends the downpours and makes plants grow in every field. Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.
2 Household idols talk nonsense. Fortune-tellers see phony visions and tell made-up dreams. Their comfort is worthless and hollow. Therefore the people drift around like lost sheep, miserable because they have no real shepherd. For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.
3 "My anger blazes against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders. The LORD of Armies will tend to his flock — the people of Judah — and will turn them into a magnificent warhorse in battle." Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.
4 "From Judah will come the cornerstone, the tent peg, the battle bow, and every strong leader." Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together.
God Will Bring His People Home
Study note
God promises to make both Judah and the northern tribes of Israel strong again. He compares His people to mighty warriors who will fight because the Lord is with them. God will whistle to gather them from the nations where they were scattered. He will bring them back from Egypt and Assyria. Like a new Exodus, He will lead them through the sea and dry up the rivers that stand in their way.
5 "Together they will be like mighty warriors stomping through mud on the battlefield. They will fight because the LORD fights with them. They will put the enemy horsemen to shame." And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the LORD is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.
6 "I will make the people of Judah powerful and bring the people of Joseph back home safely. I will restore them because my heart aches for them. It will be as if I never turned away from them, because I am the LORD their God and I will answer their prayers." And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them.
7 "The people of Ephraim will become mighty warriors. Their hearts will sing with happiness as though celebrating at a feast. Their children will watch and be overjoyed. Their hearts will swell with gladness in the LORD." And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD.
8 "I will whistle for them and bring them together, because I have set them free. They will multiply and become as numerous as they were before." I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased.
9 "Even though I planted them like seeds among distant nations, they will remember me in those faraway places. They and their children will survive, and they will come home." And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again.
10 "I will bring them back from Egypt and round them up from Assyria. I will resettle them in the lands of Gilead and Lebanon, and there will not be enough room for all of them." I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them.
11 "They will pass through a sea of hardship. But the waves will be beaten back, and every deep spot in the Nile will dry up. Assyria's arrogance will be crushed, and Egypt's power will be yanked away." And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away.
12 "I will make them strong in the LORD, and they will live their lives in his name," the LORD declares. And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD.