The Hebrew Prophets

The LORD of Hosts will shield them.They will destroy and conquer with slingstones;they will drink and roar as with wine.And they will be filled like sprinkling bowls,drenched like the corners of the altar.

On that day the LORD their God will save themas the flock of His people;for like jewels in a crownthey will sparkle over His land.

How lovely they will be,and how beautiful!Grain will make the young men flourish,and new wine, the young women.

Ask the LORD for rain in springtime;the LORD makes the storm clouds,and He will give everyone showers of rainand crops in the field.

For idols speak deceitand diviners see illusions;they tell false dreamsand offer empty comfort.Therefore the people wander like sheep,oppressed for lack of a shepherd.

“My anger burns against the shepherds,and I will punish the leaders.For the LORD of Hosts attends to His flock,the house of Judah;He will make themlike His royal steed in battle.

The cornerstone will come from Judah,the tent peg from him,as well as the battle bowand every ruler together.

They will be like mighty men in battle,trampling the enemy in the mire of the streets.They will fight because the LORD is with them,and they will put the horsemen to shame.

I will strengthen the house of Judahand save the house of Joseph.I will restore them because I have compassion on them,and they will be as though I had not rejected them.For I am the LORD their God,and I will answer them.

Ephraim will be like a mighty man,and their hearts will be glad as with wine.Their children will see it and be joyful;their hearts will rejoice in the LORD.

I will whistle for them to gather,for I have redeemed them;and they will be as numerousas they once were.

Though I sow them among the nations,they will remember Me in distant lands;they and their childrenwill live and return.

I will bring them back from Egyptand gather them from Assyria.I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanonuntil no more room is found for them.

They will pass through the sea of distressand strike the waves of the sea;all the depths of the Nile will dry up.The pride of Assyria will be brought down,and the scepter of Egypt will depart.

I will strengthen them in the LORD,and in His name they will walk,”declares the LORD.

Open your doors, O Lebanon,that the fire may consume your cedars!

Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen;the majestic trees are ruined!Wail, O oaks of Bashan,for the dense forest has been cut down!

Listen to the wailing of the shepherds,for their glory is in ruins.Listen to the roaring of the young lions,for the thickets of the Jordan are destroyed.

This is what the LORD my God says: “Pasture the flock marked for slaughter,

whose buyers slaughter them without remorse. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich!’ Even their own shepherds have no compassion on them.

For I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land, declares the LORD, but behold, I will cause each man to fall into the hands of his neighbor and his king, who will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from their hands.”

So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, especially the afflicted of the flock. Then I took for myself two staffs, calling one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock.

And in one month I dismissed three shepherds. My soul grew impatient with the flock, and their souls also detested me.

Then I said, “I will no longer shepherd you. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish; and let those who remain devour one another’s flesh.”

Next I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations.