1 Ask ye of the Lord rain in season, the early and the latter: the Lord has given bright signs, and will give them 1abundant rain, to every one grass in the field. 2 For the speakers have uttered grievous things, and the diviners have 2seen false visions, and they have spoken false dreams, they have given vain comfort: therefore have they 3fallen away like sheep, and been afflicted, because there was no healing.
3 Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I will 4visit the lambs; and the Lord God Almighty shall visit his flock, the house of Juda, and he shall make them as his goodly horse in war. 4 And from him he 5looked, and from him he set the battle in order, and from him came the bow in anger, and from him shall come forth every 6oppressor together. 5 And they shall be as warriors treading clay in the ways in war; and they shall set the battle in array, because the Lord is with them, and the riders on horses shall be put to shame.
6 And I will strengthen the house of Juda, and save the house of Joseph, and I will settle them; because I have loved them: and they shall be as if I had not cast them off: for I am the Lord their God, and I will hear them. 7 And they shall be as the warriors of Ephraim, and their heart shall rejoice as with wine: and their children also shall see it, and be glad; and their heart shall rejoice in the Lord. 8 I will make a sign to them, and gather them in; for I will redeem them, and they shall be multiplied according to their number before.
9 And I will sow them among the people; and they that are afar off shall remember me: they shall nourish their children, and they shall return. 10 And I will bring them again from the land of Egypt, and I will gather them in from among the Assyrians; and I will bring them into the land of Galaad and to Libanus; and there shall not even one of them be left behind. 11 And they shall pass through a narrow sea, they shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deep places of the rivers shall be dried up: and all the pride of the Assyrians shall be taken away, and the sceptre of Egypt shall be removed. 12 And I will strengthen them in the Lord their God; and they shall boast in his name, saith the Lord.
1 Open thy doors, O Libanus, and let the fire devour thy cedars. 2 Let the pine howl, because the cedar has fallen; for the mighty men have been greatly afflicted: howl, ye oaks of the land of Basan; for the thickly planted forest has been torn down.
3 There is a voice of the shepherds mourning; for their greatness is 7brought low: a voice of roaring lions; for the 8pride of Jordan is brought down.
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4 Thus saith the Lord Almighty, Feed the sheep of the slaughter; 5 which their possessors have slain, and have not repented: and they that sold them said, Blessed be the Lord; for we have become rich: and their shepherds have suffered no sorrow for them. 6 Therefore I will no longer have mercy upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord: but, behold, I will deliver up the men every one into the hand of his neighbour, and into the hand of his king; and they shall destroy the land, and I will not rescue out of their hand.
7 And I will tend the flock of slaughter in the land of Chanaan: and I will take for myself two rods; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Line; and I will tend the flock. 8 And I will cut off three shepherds in one month; and my soul shall 9grieve over them, for their souls cried out against me. 9 And I said, I will not tend you: that which dies, let it die; and that which 10falls off, let it fall off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of his neighbour.
10 And I will take my beautiful staff, and cast it away, that I may break my covenant which I made with all the people. 11 And it shall be broken in that day; and the Chananites, the sheep that are kept for me, shall know that it is the word of the Lord. 12 And I will say to them, If it be good in your eyes, give me my price, or refuse it. And they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. 13 And the Lord said to me, Drop them into the furnace, and I will see if it is good metal, as I was proved for their sakes. 11And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them into the furnace in the house of the Lord.
14 And I cast away my second rod, even Line, that I might break the 12possession between Juda and Israel.
15 And the Lord said to me, Take yet to thee shepherd's implements belonging to an unskillful shepherd. 16 For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd against the land: he shall not visit that which is perishing, and he shall not seek that which is scattered, and he shall not heal that which is bruised, nor guide that which is whole: but he shall devour the flesh of the choice ones, and shall 13dislocate the joints of their necks.
17 Alas for the vain shepherds that have forsaken the sheep! the sword shall be upon 14the arms of such a one, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be completely withered, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.
1 Gr. stormy.
2 Or, related.
3 Gr, been dried up.
4 Or, oversee, or, look upon.
5 פנה ambiguous.
6 Lit. he that expels.
7 Gr. distressed.
8 Or, roaring.
9 Or, be sorely displeased with them. Gr. be weighed down upon them.
10 Or, falls.
11
12 Compare Heb. Alex. διαθικην, covenant.
13 Or, wring their necks.
14 Gr. his arms.
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