22 Do any of the worthless idols(A) of the nations bring rain?(B)
    Do the skies themselves send down showers?
No, it is you, Lord our God.
    Therefore our hope is in you,
    for you are the one who does all this.(C)

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23 Be glad, people of Zion,
    rejoice(A) in the Lord your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains
    because he is faithful.(B)
He sends you abundant showers,(C)
    both autumn(D) and spring rains,(E) as before.

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24 They do not say to themselves,
    ‘Let us fear(A) the Lord our God,
who gives autumn and spring rains(B) in season,
    who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’(C)

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He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;
    he sends lightning with the rain(A)
    and brings out the wind(B) from his storehouses.(C)

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23 He will also send you rain(A) for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich(B) and plentiful.(C) In that day(D) your cattle will graze in broad meadows.(E)

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21 They made me jealous(A) by what is no god
    and angered me with their worthless idols.(B)
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
    I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.(C)

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The Lord Will Care for Judah

10 Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime;
    it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.
He gives showers of rain(A) to all people,
    and plants of the field(B) to everyone.
The idols(C) speak deceitfully,
    diviners(D) see visions that lie;
they tell dreams(E) that are false,
    they give comfort in vain.(F)
Therefore the people wander like sheep
    oppressed for lack of a shepherd.(G)

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16 When he thunders,(A) the waters in the heavens roar;
    he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain(B)
    and brings out the wind from his storehouses.(C)

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19 Lord, my strength and my fortress,
    my refuge(A) in time of distress,
to you the nations will come(B)
    from the ends of the earth and say,
“Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,(C)
    worthless idols(D) that did them no good.(E)

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15 They are worthless,(A) the objects of mockery;
    when their judgment comes, they will perish.

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29 See, they are all false!
    Their deeds amount to nothing;(A)
    their images(B) are but wind(C) and confusion.

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I wait for the Lord,(A) my whole being waits,(B)
    and in his word(C) I put my hope.

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21 May integrity(A) and uprightness(B) protect me,
    because my hope, Lord,[a] is in you.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 25:21 Septuagint; Hebrew does not have Lord.

26 to water(A) a land where no one lives,
    an uninhabited desert,(B)
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
    and make it sprout with grass?(C)
28 Does the rain have a father?(D)
    Who fathers the drops of dew?

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14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain(A) on the land.’”

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Elijah Announces a Great Drought

17 Now Elijah(A) the Tishbite, from Tishbe[a] in Gilead,(B) said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain(C) in the next few years except at my word.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 17:1 Or Tishbite, of the settlers

12 The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse(A) of his bounty,(B) to send rain(C) on your land in season and to bless(D) all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.(E)

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25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;(A)
26 it is good to wait quietly(B)
    for the salvation of the Lord.(C)

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15 “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human,(A) like you. We are bringing you good news,(B) telling you to turn from these worthless things(C) to the living God,(D) who made the heavens and the earth(E) and the sea and everything in them.(F) 16 In the past, he let(G) all nations go their own way.(H) 17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony:(I) He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons;(J) he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”(K)

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17 Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,(A)
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,(B)
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,(C)
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.(D)

19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength;(E)
    he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
    he enables me to tread on the heights.(F)

For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.

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But as for me, I watch(A) in hope(B) for the Lord,
    I wait for God my Savior;
    my God will hear(C) me.

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“I also withheld(A) rain from you
    when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
    but withheld it from another.(B)
One field had rain;
    another had none and dried up.

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13 When he thunders,(A) the waters in the heavens roar;
    he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning(B) with the rain(C)
    and brings out the wind from his storehouses.(D)

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12 The blacksmith(A) takes a tool
    and works with it in the coals;
he shapes an idol with hammers,
    he forges it with the might of his arm.(B)
He gets hungry and loses his strength;
    he drinks no water and grows faint.(C)
13 The carpenter(D) measures with a line
    and makes an outline with a marker;
he roughs it out with chisels
    and marks it with compasses.
He shapes it in human form,(E)
    human form in all its glory,
    that it may dwell in a shrine.(F)
14 He cut down cedars,
    or perhaps took a cypress or oak.
He let it grow among the trees of the forest,
    or planted a pine,(G) and the rain made it grow.
15 It is used as fuel(H) for burning;
    some of it he takes and warms himself,
    he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
But he also fashions a god and worships(I) it;
    he makes an idol and bows(J) down to it.
16 Half of the wood he burns in the fire;
    over it he prepares his meal,
    he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
He also warms himself and says,
    “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.(K)
17 From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
    he bows down to it and worships.(L)
He prays(M) to it and says,
    “Save(N) me! You are my god!”
18 They know nothing, they understand(O) nothing;
    their eyes(P) are plastered over so they cannot see,
    and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
19 No one stops to think,
    no one has the knowledge or understanding(Q) to say,
“Half of it I used for fuel;(R)
    I even baked bread over its coals,
    I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make a detestable(S) thing from what is left?
    Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”(T)
20 Such a person feeds on ashes;(U) a deluded(V) heart misleads him;
    he cannot save himself, or say,
    “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?(W)

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18 Yet the Lord longs(A) to be gracious to you;
    therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.(B)
For the Lord is a God of justice.(C)
    Blessed are all who wait for him!(D)

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