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Yahweh Gives Rain

10 Ask rain from Yahweh in the season of the spring rain—

Yahweh, who makes storm clouds,
and he gives showers of rain to them,
    to everyone vegetation in the field.
Because the household gods[a] speak deceit,
    and those who practice divination see a lie,
and the dreamers of vanity speak in vain.
    Therefore the people wander like sheep;[b]
they are afflicted because there is no shepherd.
My anger burns[c] against the shepherds,
    and I will punish the leaders,[d]
because Yahweh of hosts watches over his flock,[e]
    the house of Judah;
        and he will make them like his majestic horse in war.
From them[f] the cornerstone will go out,
    from them[g] the tent peg,
from them[h] the battle bow,
    from them[i] every ruler,
        all together.
And they will be like warriors,
    trampling in the mud of the streets in the battle.
They will fight, because Yahweh is with them,
    and they will put to shame the riders on horses.
And I will strengthen the house of Judah,
    and the house of Joseph I will save.
And I will bring them back, because I have compassion on them,
    and they will be as if I had not rejected them,
    for I am Yahweh their God, and I will answer them.
And the people of Ephraim will be like a warrior,
    and their heart will be glad as with wine.
And their children will see and rejoice;
    their heart will shout in exultation in Yahweh.
I will whistle to them and gather them,
    for I have redeemed them,
    and they will become numerous as they have been numerous before.
Though I sow[j] them among the nations,
    in the distant places they will remember me,
    and they will stay alive with their children, and they will return.
10 And I will bring them back from the land of Egypt,
    and from Assyria I will gather them.
To the land of Gilead and Lebanon I will bring them,
    until no room will be found for them there.
11 And he[k] will pass through the sea of distress,
    and he will strike the waves of the sea,
    and all the depths of the Nile will dry up.
The pride of Assyria will be brought low,
    and the scepter of Egypt will depart.
12 I will make them strong in Yahweh,
    and in his name they will walk,
        declares[l] Yahweh.

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 10:2 Hebrew teraphim
  2. Zechariah 10:2 Or “flocks”; the Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
  3. Zechariah 10:3 Literally “My nose becomes hot”
  4. Zechariah 10:3 Or “male goats”
  5. Zechariah 10:3 Or “herd”
  6. Zechariah 10:4 Hebrew “him” (or “it”), referring to the flock in v. 3
  7. Zechariah 10:4 Hebrew “him” (or “it”), referring to the flock in v. 3
  8. Zechariah 10:4 Hebrew “him” (or “it”), referring to the flock in v. 3
  9. Zechariah 10:4 Hebrew “him” (or “it”), referring to the flock in v. 3
  10. Zechariah 10:9 Or “scatter”
  11. Zechariah 10:11 LXX reads “they,” referring to the Israelites (so NIV, NRSV, NASB)
  12. Zechariah 10:12 Literally “declaration of”

The Lord’s Care for Judah

10 “Ask the Lord for rain in the spring[a]
    the Lord who fashions lightning thunderstorms,
giving rain showers to mankind[b]
    along with grain in the fields.[c]
Truly the family idols[d] talk nonsense
    and the diviners discern lies,
        describing delusional dreams.
Since their comfort is vacuous,
    they wander off on their own like sheep,
        because there is no shepherd.

“Against the shepherds my anger rises—
    I am punishing the leaders[e] also,
because the Lord of the Heavenly Armies has visited his flock, the house of Judah,
    appointing them as his royal war horse for battle.
From them arises[f] the cornerstone and tent peg,
    from them the battle bow,
        from them arise all sorts of oppressive rulers.
They will be like mighty soldiers
    who trample mud in the streets during battle.
They will fight because the Lord is with them,
    and the opposing[g] horsemen will be confused.

“I will fortify the house of Judah,
    and the house of Joseph I will save.
I will surely bring them back,
    because I care about them.
They will be as if I had never cast them away.
    Since I am the Lord their God,
        I will answer them.

“The people of Ephraim will become like mighty soldiers;
    they will be glad, like those who have wine.
Their children will see this and rejoice;
    their hearts will find joy in the Lord.
I will whistle for them, gathering them together,
    because I have redeemed them,
        and they will multiply as they were before.[h]
I will scatter them among the nations,
    and so they will remember me in distant countries.
They will rear their children,
    and they will return.
10 I will bring them once again out of the land of Egypt,
    gathering them from Assyria.
I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon,
    but there will not be enough space for them.
11 They[i] will pass through the sea of affliction,
    and they[j] will strike the waves[k] in that sea.
All of the depths of the Nile will evaporate,
    Assyria’s arrogance will be brought down low,
        and the ruling power[l] of Egypt will disappear.

12 “I will strengthen them in the Lord,
    and they will march here and there in his name,”
        declares the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 10:1 Lit. the season of the latter rain; i.e. the March and April rains
  2. Zechariah 10:1 Lit. them
  3. Zechariah 10:1 Lit. fields to a man
  4. Zechariah 10:2 Lit. the teraphim; i.e. household images apparently used for divination
  5. Zechariah 10:3 Lit. rams
  6. Zechariah 10:4 The Heb. lacks arises
  7. Zechariah 10:5 The Heb. lacks opposing
  8. Zechariah 10:8 Lit. will increase as they increased
  9. Zechariah 10:11 So LXX. MT reads He will
  10. Zechariah 10:11 So LXX. MT reads He will
  11. Zechariah 10:11 I.e. perhaps reminiscent of Elijah striking the Jordan River; cf. 2Kings 2:8
  12. Zechariah 10:11 Lit. the scepter