The Father Gathers His Scattered Children Home
10 1 Ask rain from our Father in the season of the spring rains — our Father who makes the storm clouds; he gives them showers of rain, to everyone the green growth of the field.
2 For the household idols speak emptiness, and the diviners see a lie; they tell false dreams and give worthless comfort. So the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted because there is no shepherd.
3 "My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders of the flock; for the Father of heaven's armies has visited his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like his majestic horse in battle. 4 From him will come the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler together. a a v4 The cornerstone, the tent peg every weight hangs on, the ruler who comes from Judah — the New Testament names him as Jesus, on whom our Father builds his people. 5 Together they will be like mighty warriors, trampling the mud of the streets in battle. They will fight, because our Father is with them, and the riders on horses will be put to shame.
6 "I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph. I will bring them home, because my heart goes out to them, and they will be as though I had never rejected them; for I am their Father, and I will answer them. 7 Then Ephraim will be like a mighty warrior, and their hearts will be glad as with wine. Their children will see it and rejoice; their hearts will exult in our Father. 8 "I will whistle for them and gather them in, for I have redeemed them, and they will be as many as they once were. 9 Though I scatter them among the peoples, in far-off lands they will remember me; they will live, together with their children, and they will return. 10 I will bring them home from the land of Egypt and gather them from Assyria; I will bring them to the land of Gilead and Lebanon, until there is no more room for them. 11 They will pass through the sea of distress; he will strike down the waves of the sea, and all the depths of the Nile will run dry. The pride of Assyria will be brought low, and the scepter of Egypt will pass away. 12 I will make them strong in me, and in my name they will walk, declares our Father.