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⁶And I will strengthen the house of Judah,

And I will save the house of Joseph,

And I will bring them back, for I have compassion upon them,

And they shall be as though I had not cast them off;

For I am the Lord their God, and I will hear them.

⁷And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man,

And their heart shall rejoice as through wine;

Yea, their children shall see it, and rejoice,

Their heart shall be glad in the Lord.

⁸I will hiss for them, and gather them,

For I have redeemed them;

And they shall increase as they have increased.

⁹And I will sow them among the peoples,

And they shall remember Me in far countries;

And they shall live with their children, and shall return.

¹⁰I will bring them back also out of the land of Egypt,

And gather them out of Assyria;

And I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon,

And place shall not suffice them.

¹¹And over the sea affliction shall pass,

And the waves shall be smitten in the sea,

And all the depths of the Nile shall dry up;

And the pride of Assyria shall be brought down,

And the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away.

¹²And I will strengthen them in the Lord;

And they shall walk up and down in His name,

Saith the Lord.

11Open thy doors, O Lebanon,

That the fire may devour thy cedars.

²Wail, O cypress-tree, for the cedar is fallen,

Because the glorious ones are spoiled;

Wail, O ye oaks of Bashan,

For the strong forest is come down.

³Hark! the wailing of the shepherds,

For their glory is spoiled;

Hark! the roaring of young lions,

For the thickets of the Jordan are spoiled.

⁴Thus said the Lord my God: 'Feed the flock of slaughter; ⁵whose buyers slay them, and hold themselves not guilty; and they that sell them say: Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich; and their own shepherds pity them not. ⁶For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord; but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king; and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.' ⁷So I fed the flock of slaughter, verily the poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Graciousness, and the other I called Binders; and I fed the flock. ⁸And I cut off the three shepherds in one month; 'for My soul became impatient of them, and their soul also loathed Me.' ⁹Then said I: 'I will not feed you; that which dieth, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let them that are left eat every one the flesh of another.' ¹⁰And I took my staff Graciousness, and cut it asunder, 'that I might break My covenant which I had made with all the peoples.' ¹¹And it was broken in that day; and the poor of the flock that gave heed unto me knew of a truth that it was the word of the Lord.

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