⁶ “I gave you empty stomachs in every city
    and lack of bread in every town,
    yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.^(H)

⁷ “I also withheld^(I) rain from you
    when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
    but withheld it from another.^(J)
One field had rain;
    another had none and dried up.
⁸ People staggered from town to town for water^(K)
    but did not get enough^(L) to drink,
    yet you have not returned^(M) to me,”
declares the Lord.^(N)

⁹ “Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
    destroying them with blight and mildew.^(O)
Locusts^(P) devoured your fig and olive trees,^(Q)
    yet you have not returned^(R) to me,”
declares the Lord.

¹⁵ Blow the trumpet^(A) in Zion,^(B)
    declare a holy fast,^(C)
    call a sacred assembly.^(D)
16 Gather the people,
    consecrate^(E) the assembly;
bring together the elders,^(F)
    gather the children,
    those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom^(G) leave his room
    and the bride her chamber.
¹⁷ Let the priests, who minister^(H) before the Lord,
    weep^(I) between the portico and the altar.^(J)
Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord.
    Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,^(K)
    a byword^(L) among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?^(M)’”

¹⁵ Alas for that^(H) day!
    For the day of the Lord^(I) is near;
    it will come like destruction from the Almighty.^[a](J)

¹⁶ Has not the food been cut off^(K)
    before our very eyes—
joy and gladness^(L)
    from the house of our God?^(M)
17 The seeds are shriveled
    beneath the clods.^[b](N)
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;^(O)
    even the flocks of sheep are suffering.^(P)

¹⁹ To you, Lord, I call,^(Q)
    for fire^(R) has devoured the pastures^(S) in the wilderness
    and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
²⁰ Even the wild animals pant for you;^(T)
    the streams of water have dried up^(U)
    and fire has devoured the pastures^(V) in the wilderness.

¹⁵ Then I will return to my lair^(A)
    until they have borne their guilt^(B)
    and seek my face^(C)—
in their misery^(D)
    they will earnestly seek me.^(E)”