< Zechariah 10 >
1 Aske you of the Lord raine in the time of the latter raine: so shall the Lord make white cloudes, and giue you showers of raine, and to euery one grasse in the field.
They asked of YHWH rain In a time of spring rain, YHWH is making lightnings, And He gives to them rain [in] showers. To each—the herb in the field.
2 Surely the idols haue spoken vanitie, and the southsayers haue seene a lye, and the dreamers haue tolde a vaine thing: they comfort in vaine: therefore they went away as sheepe: they were troubled, because there was no shepheard.
Because the teraphim spoke iniquity, And the diviners have seen a falsehood, And dreams of the vanity they speak, [With] vanity they give comfort, Therefore they have journeyed as a flock, They are afflicted, for there is no shepherd.
3 My wrath was kindled against the shepherdes, and I did visite the goates: but the Lord of hostes will visite his flocke the house of Iudah, and will make them as his beautifull horse in the battell.
“My anger burned against the shepherds, And I lay a charge against the male goats, For YHWH of Hosts has inspected His flock, the house of Judah, And set them as His splendid horse in battle.
4 Out of him shall the corner come foorth: out of him the nayle, out of him ye bowe of battell, and out of him euery appointer of tribute also.
From him [is] a cornerstone, From him a nail, from him a battle-bow, From him goes forth every exactor together.
5 And they shalbe as the mightie men, which treade downe their enemies in the mire of the streetes in the battell, and they shall fight, because the Lord is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.
And they have been as heroes, Treading in mire of out-places in battle, And they have fought, for YHWH [is] with them, And have put to shame riders of horses.
6 And I will strengthen the house of Iudah, and I will preserue the house of Ioseph, and I wil bring them againe, for I pitie them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the Lord their God, and will heare them.
And I have made the house of Judah mighty, And I save the house of Joseph, And I have caused them to dwell, for I have loved them, And they have been as [if] I had not cast them off, For I [am] their God YHWH, And I answer them.
7 And they of Ephraim shall be as a gyant, and their heart shall reioyce as thorowe wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad: and their heart shall reioyce in the Lord.
And Ephraim has been as a hero, And their heart has rejoiced as wine, And their sons see, and they have rejoiced, Their heart rejoices in YHWH.
8 I will hisse for them, and gather them: for I haue redeemed them: and they shall encrease, as they haue encreased.
I hiss for them, and I gather them, For I have redeemed them, And they have multiplied as they multiplied.
9 And I will sowe them among the people, and they shall remember me in farre countreys: and they shall liue with their children and turne againe.
And I sow them among peoples, And in far-off places they remember Me, And they have lived with their sons, And they have turned back.
10 I will bring them againe also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Asshur: and I will bring them into the land of Gilead, and Lebanon, and place shall not be found for them.
And I have brought them back from the land of Egypt, And I gather them from Asshur, And I bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, And [space] is not found for them there.
11 And he shall goe into the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waues in the sea, and all the depthes of the riuer shall drye vp: and the pride of Asshur shall be cast downe, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart away.
And He has passed over through the sea, And has pressed and struck billows in the sea, And all depths of a flood have been dried up, And the excellence of Asshur has been brought down, And the rod of Egypt turns aside.
12 And I will strengthen them in the Lord, and they shall walke in his Name, sayth the Lord.
And I have made them mighty in YHWH, And in His Name they walk up and down,” A declaration of YHWH!