Zechariah 10:1-12

Ask YAHWEH for rain in the season of the latter rain. For YAHWEH is the Thunderstorm-Maker. He will give them the outpouring of rain, causing the grain of the field to flourish. The household gods babble nonsense, the fortune tellers see false visions, dreamers peddle delusions and give comfort in vain. Therefore, the people have strayed like scattered, suffering, lost sheep because they have no shepherd. “I am enraged at the so-called shepherds, and I will vent my anger and punish the proud leaders. I, YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, care deeply for my flock, the people of Judah. I will transform them from a shepherdless flock of sheep into brave battle horses of splendor. Out of them will emerge the cornerstone and the tent peg. From them will emerge battle bows and warrior captains. Together they will be like warriors trampling the foe in battle like mud in the streets. They will fight because YAHWEH fights with them; they will defeat and humiliate the horsemen. “I will make the people of Judah mighty and the descendants of Joseph victorious. And I will bring them back home because I have compassion on them. They will be as though I had never rejected them, for I am YAHWEH their God, and I will answer their prayers. The people of Israel will be like warriors. Their hearts will be cheered as though by wine. Their children will see this and be full of joy, and their hearts will celebrate and rejoice in YAHWEH. “I will whistle to call them home as a shepherd gathers his sheep, for I have redeemed them. And they will be as numerous as ever before. Though I sowed my people as seed among the nations, they will remember me in those faraway lands. They will all return and rear their children. For I will bring them home from Egypt and gather them back from Assyria; I will lead them back into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, yet even there they will not have enough space. “I will cross the turbulent sea of trouble and calm its waves. All the depths of the Nile will dry up. I will humble arrogant Assyria and dismantle the power of Egypt. I will make my people mighty in me, and they will walk in my name. I, YAHWEH, declare it.”