A Call to Lamentation

13 Put on sackcloth,d you priests, and mourn;

wail, you who ministere before the altar.

Come, spend the night in sackcloth,

you who minister before my God;

for the grain offerings and drink offeringsf

are withheld from the house of your God.

14 Declare a holy fast;g

call a sacred assembly.

Summon the elders

and all who live in the landh

to the house of the Lord your God,

and cry outi to the Lord.j

15 Alas for thatk day!

For the day of the Lordl is near;

it will come like destruction from the Almighty.c m

16 Has not the food been cut offn

before our very eyes—

joy and gladnesso

from the house of our God?p

17 The seeds are shriveled

beneath the clods.d q

The storehouses are in ruins,

the granaries have been broken down,

for the grain has dried up.

18 How the cattle moan!

The herds mill about

because they have no pasture;r

even the flocks of sheep are suffering.s

19 To you, Lord, I call,t

for fireu has devoured the pasturesv in the wilderness

and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.

20 Even the wild animals pant for you;w

the streams of water have dried upx

and fire has devoured the pasturesy in the wilderness.