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Good Shepherd Cares for Judah
10 Ask Adonai for rain in spring!
Adonai makes the storm clouds
and will give rain showers
and plants of the field to everyone.
2 The idols utter deceit
and diviners see lies.
They relate false dreams
and comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wander like sheep,
afflicted because there is no shepherd.[a]
3 My anger burns against the shepherds
and I will punish the leaders.[b]
Adonai-Tzva’ot cares for His flock,
the house of Judah.
He will make them His valiant steed in battle.
4 From Judah will come the cornerstone,[c]
from him the tent peg,
from him the battle bow
and from him every leader together.
5 They will be like mighty men
treading down muddy streets in war.
They will fight, because Adonai is with them
and will put horsemen to shame.
6 I will strengthen the house of Judah
and save the house of Joseph.
I will bring them back,
for I have compassion on them.
They will be as though
I had never spurned them,
for I am Adonai their God
and I will answer them!
7 The Ephraimites will be like a warrior.
Their hearts will be glad as with wine.
Their children will see and be glad.
Their hearts will rejoice in Adonai.
8 I will signal for them and gather them.
Surely I will redeem them
and they will be as numerous as before.
9 Though I scatter them among the peoples,
they will remember Me in distant places.
They and their children will survive and return.
10 I will restore from the land of Egypt
and gather them from Assyria.
I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon
till there is no room for them.
11 He will cross the turbulent sea
and calm its raging waves.
All the depths of the Nile will dry up,
the pride of Assyria brought down,
the scepter of Egypt removed.
12 So I will strengthen them in Adonai
and they will walk in His Name.
It is a declaration of Adonai.
Devastation of Surrounding Lands
11 Open your gates, Lebanon—
fire will devour your cedars!
2 Wail, cypress tree! For the cedar has fallen.
Those majestic ones are devastated.
Wail, oaks of Bashan!
For the thick forest is cut down!
3 Listen to the wailing of the shepherds,
for their glory is destroyed!
Listen to the roaring of young lions,
for Jordan’s thickets are ruined!
Two Staffs
4 Thus said Adonai my God: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter! 5 Their buyers slay them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be Adonai, for I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them. 6 I will no longer have compassion on the inhabitants of the land”—it is a declaration of Adonai. “Behold, I will hand everyone over to his neighbor and his king. They will devastate the land, and I will not deliver them from their hand.”
7 So I pastured the flock for the slaughter, especially the afflicted of the flock. Then I took two staffs—one I called Favor and the other I called Union—and I pastured the flock. 8 Next I disposed of the three shepherds in one month—for my soul was impatient with them and their soul also detested me. 9 Then I said, “I will not shepherd you! Let the dying die, let the perishing perish, and let those who are left eat one another’s flesh!” 10 So I took my staff called Favor and broke it to pieces, in order to break my covenant that I made with all people. 11 It was broken on that day. The afflicted of the flock that were watching me knew that this was the word of Adonai.”
12 Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, pay me my wages, but if not, don’t bother!” So they weighed out my wages—30 pieces of silver.[d]
13 Then Adonai said to me, “Throw it to the potter—that exorbitant price at which they valued Me!” So I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw them into the House of Adonai, to the potter.[e]
14 Then I broke my second staff called Union, in order to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. 15 Again Adonai said to me, “Once more take up the equipment of a foolish shepherd! 16 For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for the dying, seek out the young or heal the injured or nourish the healthy. Instead he will eat the meat of the choice sheep, even tearing off their hoofs.”
17 Woe to the worthless shepherd
who deserts the flock![f]
May a sword fell his arm and his right eye!
May his arm be all withered
and his right eye totally blinded!”
Judgment of Babylon
18 After these things, I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his glory. 2 He cried out with a mighty voice, saying:
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great![a]
She has become a den for demons,
a haunt for every unclean spirit
and for every unclean bird
and for every unclean and detestable beast.[b]
3 For all the nations have drunk
of the wine of the fury of her immorality.
The kings of the earth have committed
sexual immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth
grew rich off the power
of her self-indulgence.”
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,
“Come out of her, my people,[c]
lest you participate in her sins
and receive her plagues!
5 For her sins have piled up to heaven,[d]
and God has remembered her crimes.
6 Pay her back just as she has paid out,
and give her back double for her deeds![e]
In the cup she has mixed—
mix a double dose for her!
7 As she has exalted herself and indulged herself in luxury,
so give her the same measure of torment and grief!
For in her heart she says,
‘I sit as a queen—
I am no widow;
I shall never see grief.’[f]
8 For this reason her plagues will arrive in
a single day—
death and grief and famine—
and she shall be burned down with fire.[g]
For mighty is Adonai Elohim who judges her!”
9 Then the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and indulged in luxury with her shall weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning[h]— 10 standing far off because of the terror of her torment, saying:
“Alas, alas, O great city—
O Babylon, the mighty city!
For in a single hour your judgment has come!”
11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her,[i] because no one buys their merchandise anymore— 12 shipments of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; all kinds of citron wood; all kinds of ivory products; all kinds of products made of costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble; 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; wine, oil, fine flour, and wheat; cattle, sheep, horses, and chariots; and slaves—that is, human souls.
14 The fruit of your soul’s desire has gone from you,
and all the expensive and beautiful things are lost to you
—never again will people find them.
15 The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, shall stand far off for fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, 16 saying,
“Alas, alas, O great city—
clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet,
adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!
17 For in a single hour so much wealth has been ruined!”
And every ship captain and passenger, sailors and all who make their living at sea, stood at a distance 18 and were crying out, seeing the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What city is like the great city?’ 19 And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning,
“Alas, alas, O great city—
in her all who had ships at sea grew rich from her wealth!
For in a single hour has she been ruined!
20 Rejoice over her, O heaven,[j]
and you kedoshim, emissaries and prophets!
For God has judged her condemnation of you!”
21 Then a mighty angel picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea,[k] saying:
“So shall Babylon, the great city,
be thrown down with violence,
never to be found again!
22 And the sound of harpists and musicians,
flautists and trumpeters,
shall never be heard in you again![l]
And the craftsman of any craft
shall never be found in you again!
And the sound of a mill
shall never be heard in you again!
23 And the light of a lamp
shall never shine in you again!
And the voice of the bridegroom and bride
shall never be heard in you again![m]
For your businessmen were the tycoons of the world,
for all the nations were deceived by your sorcery![n]
24 And in her was found the blood of the prophets and kedoshim
and all those slaughtered on the earth.”
Justice of the Kingdom
Psalm 146
1 Halleluyah! Praise Adonai, O my soul!
2 I will praise Adonai all my life.
I will praise my God yet again.
3 Do not put your trust in princes—
in man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 His breath departs,
he returns to his dust.
In that very day his plans perish.
5 Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in Adonai his God,
6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps truth forever,
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives bread to the hungry.
Adonai sets the prisoners free.
8 Adonai opens the eyes of the blind.[a]
Adonai raises up those who are bowed down.
Adonai loves the righteous.
9 Adonai protects outsiders,
upholds the fatherless and the widow,
but thwarts the way of the wicked.
10 Adonai will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, from generation to generation.
Halleluyah!
33 For as churning milk produces butter,
and twisting the nose produces blood,
so stirring up anger produces strife.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.