6 For a anation has 1invaded my land,

Mighty and without number;

bIts teeth are the teeth of a lion,

And it has the fangs of a lioness.

7 It has amade my vine a waste

And my fig tree 1splinters.

It has stripped them bare and cast them away;

Their branches have become white.

8 aWail like a virgin bgirded with sackcloth

For the bridegroom of her youth.

9 The agrain offering and the drink offering are cut off

From the house of the Lord.

The bpriests mourn,

The ministers of the Lord.

10 The field is aruined,

bThe land mourns;

For the grain is ruined,

The new wine dries up,

Fresh oil 1fails.

11 1aBe ashamed, O farmers,

Wail, O vinedressers,

For the wheat and the barley;

Because the bharvest of the field is destroyed.

12 The avine dries up

And the fig tree 1fails;

The bpomegranate, the cpalm also, and the 2dapple tree,

All the trees of the field dry up.

Indeed, erejoicing dries up

From the sons of men.

13 aGird yourselves with sackcloth

And lament, O priests;

bWail, O ministers of the altar!

Come, cspend the night in sackcloth

O ministers of my God,

For the grain offering and the drink offering

Are withheld from the house of your God.

Starvation and Drought

14 aConsecrate a fast,

Proclaim a bsolemn assembly;

Gather the elders

And all the inhabitants of the land

To the house of the Lord your God,

And ccry out to the Lord.

15 aAlas for the day!

For the bday of the Lord is near,

And it will come as cdestruction from the 1Almighty.

16 Has not afood been cut off before our eyes,

Gladness and bjoy from the house of our God?

17 The 1aseeds shrivel under their 2clods;

The storehouses are desolate,

The barns are torn down,

For the grain is dried up.

18 How athe beasts groan!

The herds of cattle wander aimlessly

Because there is no pasture for them;

Even the flocks of sheep 1suffer.

19 aTo You, O Lord, I cry;

For bfire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness

And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.

20 Even the beasts of the field 1apant for You;

For the bwater brooks are dried up

And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Chapter 2

The Terrible Visitation

1 aBlow a trumpet in Zion,

And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

For the bday of the Lord is coming;

Surely it is near,

2 A day of adarkness and gloom,

A day of clouds and thick darkness.

As the dawn is spread over the mountains,

So there is a bgreat and mighty people;

There has cnever been anything like it,

Nor will there be again after it

To the years of many generations.

3 A afire consumes before them

And behind them a flame burns.

The land is blike the garden of Eden before them

But a cdesolate wilderness behind them,

And nothing at all escapes them.

4 Their aappearance is like the appearance of horses;

And like war horses, so they run.

5 1With a anoise as of chariots

They leap on the tops of the mountains,

Like the 2crackling of a bflame of fire consuming the stubble,

Like a mighty people arranged for battle.

6 Before them the people are in aanguish;

All bfaces 1turn pale.

7 They run like mighty men,

They climb the wall like soldiers;

And they each amarch 1in line,

Nor do they deviate from their paths.

8 They do not crowd each other,

They march everyone in his path;

When they 1burst through the 2defenses,

They do not break ranks.

9 They rush on the city,

They run on the wall;

They climb into the ahouses,

They benter through the windows like a thief.

10 Before them the earth aquakes,

The heavens tremble,

The bsun and the moon grow dark

And the stars lose their brightness.

11 The Lord autters His voice before bHis army;

Surely His camp is very great,

For cstrong is he who carries out His word.

The dday of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome,

And ewho can endure it?

12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,

“aReturn to Me with all your heart,

And with bfasting, weeping and mourning;

13 And arend your heart and not byour garments.”

Now return to the Lord your God,

For He is cgracious and compassionate,

Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness

And drelenting of evil.

14 Who knows awhether He will not turn and relent

And leave a bblessing behind Him,

Even ca grain offering and a drink offering

For the Lord your God?

15 aBlow a trumpet in Zion,

bConsecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,

16 Gather the people, asanctify the congregation,

Assemble the elders,

Gather the children and the nursing infants.

Let the bbridegroom come out of his room

And the bride out of her bridal chamber.

17 Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers,

Weep abetween the porch and the altar,

And let them say, “bSpare Your people, O Lord,

And do not make Your inheritance a creproach,

A byword among the nations.

Why should they among the peoples say,

‘dWhere is their God?’ ”

Deliverance Promised

18 Then the Lord 1will be azealous for His land

And 2will have bpity on His people.

19 The Lord 1will answer and say to His people,

“Behold, I am going to asend you grain, new wine and oil,

And you will be satisfied in full with 2them;

And I will bnever again make you a reproach among the nations.

20 “But I will remove the anorthern army far from you,

And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,

And its vanguard into the beastern sea,

And its rear guard into the cwestern sea.

And its dstench will arise and its foul smell will come up,

For it has done great things.”

21 aDo not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad,

For the Lord has done bgreat things.

22 Do not fear, beasts of the field,

For the apastures of the wilderness have turned green,

For the tree has borne its fruit,

The fig tree and the vine have yielded 1in full.

23 So rejoice, O asons of Zion,

And bbe glad in the Lord your God;

For He has cgiven you 1the early rain for your vindication.

And He has poured down for you the rain,

The 2early and 3dlatter rain 4as before.

24 The threshing floors will be full of grain,

And the vats will aoverflow with the new wine and oil.

25 “Then I will make up to you for the years

That the swarming alocust has eaten,

The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust,

My great army which I sent among you.

26 “You will have plenty to aeat and be satisfied

And bpraise the name of the Lord your God,

Who has cdealt wondrously with you;

Then My people will dnever be put to shame.

27 “Thus you will aknow that I am in the midst of Israel,

And that I am the Lord your God,

And there is bno other;

And My people will never be cput to shame.