⁴That which the palmerworm hath left, the locust hath eaten: and that which the locust hath left, the bruchus hath eaten: and that which the bruchus hath left, the mildew hath destroyed.

⁵Awake, ye that are drunk, and weep, and mourn all ye that take delight; in drinking sweet wine: for it is cut off from your mouth.

⁶For a nation come up upon my land, strong, and without number: his teeth are like the teeth of a lion: and his cheek teeth as of a lion’s whelp.

⁷He hath laid my vineyard waste, and hath pilled off the bark of my fig tree: he hath stripped it bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

⁸Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

⁹Sacrifice and libation is cut off from the house of the Lord: the priests, the Lord’s ministers, have mourned:

¹⁰The country is destroyed, the ground hath mourned: for the corn is wasted, the wine is confounded, the oil hath languished.

¹¹The husbandmen are ashamed, the vinedressers have howled for the wheat, and for the barley, because the harvest of the field is perished.

¹²The vineyard is confounded, and the fig tree hath languished: the pomegranate tree, and the palm tree, and the apple tree, and all the trees of the field are withered: because joy is withdrawn from the children of men.

¹³Gird yourselves, and lament, O ye priests, howl, ye ministers of the altars: go in, lie in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: because sacrifice and libation is cut off from the house of your God.

¹⁴Sanctify ye a fast, call an assembly, gather together the ancients, all the inhabitants of the land into the house of your God: and cry ye to the Lord:

¹⁵Ah, ah, ah, for the day: because the day of the Lord is at hand, and it shall come like destruction from the mighty.

¹⁶Is not your food cut off before your eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

¹⁷The beasts have rotted in their dung, the barns are destroyed, the storehouses are broken down: because the corn is confounded.

¹⁸Why did the beasts groan, why did the herds of cattle low? because there is no pasture for them: yea, and the flocks of sheep are perished.

¹⁹To thee, O Lord, will I cry: because fire hath devoured the beautiful places of the wilderness: and the flame hath burnt all the trees of the country.

²⁰Yea, and the beasts of the field have looked up to thee, as a garden bed that thirsteth after rain, for the springs of waters are dried up, and fire hath devoured the beautiful places of the wilderness.

Chapter 2

Blow ye the trumpet in Sion, sound an alarm in my holy mountain, let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: because the day of the Lord cometh, because it is nigh at hand.

²A day of darkness, and of gloominess, a day of clouds and whirlwinds: a numerous and strong people as the morning spread upon the mountains: the like to it hath not been from the beginning, nor shall be after it, even to the years of generation and generation.

³Before the face thereof a devouring fire, and behind it a burning flame: the land is like a garden of pleasure before it, and behind it a desolate wilderness, neither is there any one that can escape it.

⁴The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses, and they shall run like horsemen.

⁵They shall leap like the noise of chariots upon the tops of mountains, like the noise of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, as a strong people prepared to battle.

⁶At their presence the people shall be in grievous pains: all faces shall be made like a kettle.

⁷They shall run like valiant men: like men of war they shall scale the wall: the men shall march every one on his way, and they shall not turn aside from their ranks.

⁸No one shall press upon his brother: they shall walk every one in his path: yea, and they shall fall through the windows, and shall take no harm.

⁹They shall enter into the city: they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up the houses, they shall come in at the windows, as a thief.

¹⁰At their presence the earth hath trembled, the heavens are moved: the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining.

¹¹And the Lord hath uttered his voice before the face of his army: for his armies are exceedingly great, for they are strong, and execute his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible: and who can stand it?

¹²Now, therefore, saith the Lord. Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and mourning.

¹³And rend your hearts, and not your garments and turn to the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of the evil.

¹⁴Who knoweth but he will return, and forgive, and leave a blessing behind him, sacrifice and libation to the Lord your God?

¹⁵Blow the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly,

¹⁶Gather together the people, sanctify the church, assemble the ancients, gather together the little ones, and them that suck at the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth from his bed, and the bride out of her bridal chamber.

¹⁷Between the porch and the altar the priests, the Lord’s ministers, shall weep, and shall say: Spare, O Lord, spare thy people: and give not thy inheritance to reproach, that the heathens should rule over them. Why should they say among the nations: Where is their God?

¹⁸The Lord hath been zealous for his land, and hath spared his people.

¹⁹And the Lord answered, and said to his people: Behold I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and you shall be filled with them: and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.

²⁰And I will remove far off from you the northern enemy: and I will drive him into a land unpassable, and desert, with his face towards the east sea, and his hinder part towards the utmost sea: and his stench shall ascend, and his rottenness shall go up, because he hath done proudly.

²¹Fear not, O land, be glad, and rejoice: for the Lord hath done great things.

²²Fear not, ye beasts of the fields: for the beautiful places of the wilderness are sprung, for the tree hath brought forth its fruit, the fig tree, and the vine have yielded their strength.

²³And you, O children of Sion, rejoice, and be joyful in the Lord your God: because he hath given you a teacher of justice, and he will make the early and the latter rain to come down to you as in the beginning.

²⁴And the floors shall be filled with wheat, and the presses shall overflow with wine, and oil.

²⁵And I will restore to you the years which the locust, and the bruchus, and the mildew, and the palmerworm hath eaten; my great host which I sent upon you.

²⁶And you shall eat in plenty, and shall be filled and you shall praise the name of the Lord your God; who hath done wonders with you, and my people shall not be confounded for ever.

²⁷And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: and I am the Lord your God, and there is none besides: and my people shall not be confounded forever.

²⁸And it shall come to pass after this, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy: your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.

²⁹Moreover, upon my servants and handmaids in those days I will pour forth my spirit.

³⁰And I will shew wonders in heaven; and in earth, blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke.

³¹The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood: before the great and dreadful day of the Lord doth come.

³²And it shall come to pass, that every one that shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved: for in Mount Sion, and in Jerusalem shall be salvation, as the Lord hath said, and in the residue whom the Lord shall call.

Read in Logos

Public Domain