An Invasion of Locusts

2  aHear this, byou elders;

give ear, ball inhabitants of the land!

cHas such a thing happened in your days,

or in the days of your fathers?

3  dTell your children of it,

and let your children tell their children,

and their children to another generation.

4  What ethe cutting locust left,

fthe swarming locust has eaten.

What the swarming locust left,

gthe hopping locust has eaten,

and what the hopping locust left,

hthe destroying locust has eaten.

5  Awake, you drunkards, and weep,

and iwail, all you drinkers of wine,

because of jthe sweet wine,

for it is cut off from your mouth.

6  For ka nation has come up against my land,

kpowerful and beyond number;

lits teeth are lions’ teeth,

and it has the fangs of a lioness.

7  It has laid waste my vine

and splintered my mfig tree;

it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;

their branches are made white.