Habakkuk Rejoices in the Lord

17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
    nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
    and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
    and there be no herd in the stalls,

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17 Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,(A)
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,(B)

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17 (A)They shall eat up your harvest and your food;
    they shall eat up your sons and your daughters;
they shall eat up your flocks and your herds;
    they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;
your (B)fortified cities in which you trust
    they shall beat down with the sword.”

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17 They will devour(A) your harvests and food,
    devour(B) your sons and daughters;
they will devour(C) your flocks and herds,
    devour your vines and fig trees.(D)
With the sword(E) they will destroy
    the fortified cities(F) in which you trust.(G)

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Israel Has Not Returned to the Lord

“I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
    and (A)lack of bread in all your places,
(B)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

“I also (C)withheld the rain from you
    when there were yet three months to the harvest;
(D)I would send rain on one city,
    and send no rain on another city;
one field would have rain,
    and the field on which it did not rain would wither;
so two or three cities (E)would wander to another city
    to drink water, and would not be satisfied;
(F)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

(G)“I struck you with blight and mildew;
    your many gardens and your vineyards,
    your fig trees and your olive trees (H)the locust devoured;
(I)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

10 “I sent among you a pestilence (J)after the manner of Egypt;
    I killed your young men with the sword,
and (K)carried away your horses,[a]
    and (L)I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
(M)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 4:10 Hebrew along with the captivity of your horses

“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.(A)

“I also withheld(B) rain from you
    when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
    but withheld it from another.(C)
One field had rain;
    another had none and dried up.
People staggered from town to town for water(D)
    but did not get enough(E) to drink,
    yet you have not returned(F) to me,”
declares the Lord.(G)

“Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
    destroying them with blight and mildew.(H)
Locusts(I) devoured your fig and olive trees,(J)
    yet you have not returned(K) to me,”
declares the Lord.

10 “I sent plagues(L) among you
    as I did to Egypt.(M)
I killed your young men(N) with the sword,
    along with your captured horses.
I filled your nostrils with the stench(O) of your camps,
    yet you have not returned to me,”(P)
declares the Lord.(Q)

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

17 (B)The seed shrivels under the clods;[a]
    the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
    because (C)the grain has dried up.
18 How (D)the beasts groan!
    The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
    even the flocks of sheep suffer.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. Joel 1:17 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain
  2. Joel 1:18 Or are made desolate

16 Has not the food been cut off(A)
    before our very eyes—
joy and gladness(B)
    from the house of our God?(C)
17 The seeds are shriveled
    beneath the clods.[a](D)
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;(E)
    even the flocks of sheep are suffering.(F)

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Footnotes

  1. Joel 1:17 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

10 The fields are destroyed,
    (A)the ground mourns,
because (B)the grain is destroyed,
    (C)the wine dries up,
    the oil languishes.

11 (D)Be ashamed,[a] O tillers of the soil;
    wail, O vinedressers,
for the wheat and the barley,
    (E)because the harvest of the field has perished.
12 The vine dries up;
    (F)the fig tree languishes.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple,
    all the trees of the field are dried up,
and (G)gladness dries up
    from the children of man.

A Call to Repentance

13 (H)Put on sackcloth and lament, (I)O priests;
    (J)wail, O ministers of the altar.
Go in, (K)pass the night in sackcloth,
    (L)O ministers of my God!
(M)Because grain offering and drink offering
    are withheld from the house of your God.

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Footnotes

  1. Joel 1:11 The Hebrew words for dry up and be ashamed in verses 10–12, 17 sound alike

10 The fields are ruined,
    the ground is dried up;(A)
the grain is destroyed,
    the new wine(B) is dried up,
    the olive oil fails.(C)

11 Despair, you farmers,(D)
    wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,(E)
    because the harvest of the field is destroyed.(F)
12 The vine is dried up
    and the fig tree is withered;(G)
the pomegranate,(H) the palm and the apple[a] tree—
    all the trees of the field—are dried up.(I)
Surely the people’s joy
    is withered away.

A Call to Lamentation

13 Put on sackcloth,(J) you priests, and mourn;
    wail, you who minister(K) before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
    you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings(L)
    are withheld from the house of your God.

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Footnotes

  1. Joel 1:12 Or possibly apricot

16 how did you fare? (A)When[a] one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. 17 (B)I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, (C)yet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Haggai 2:16 Probable reading (compare Septuagint); Hebrew Lord, since they were. When

16 When anyone came to a heap(A) of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat(B) to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty.(C) 17 I struck all the work of your hands(D) with blight,(E) mildew and hail,(F) yet you did not return(G) to me,’ declares the Lord.(H)

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(A)“Judah mourns,
    and (B)her gates languish;
her people lament on the ground,
    and (C)the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
Her nobles send their servants for water;
    they come to the cisterns;
they find no water;
    they return with their vessels empty;
they are (D)ashamed and confounded
    and (E)cover their heads.
Because of the ground that is dismayed,
    since there is (F)no rain on the land,
the farmers are ashamed;
    they cover their heads.
Even (G)the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn
    because there is no grass.
(H)The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;
    they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
    because there is no vegetation.

“Though our iniquities testify against us,
    act, O Lord, (I)for your name's sake;
(J)for our backslidings are many;
    (K)we have sinned against you.
(L)O you hope of Israel,
    its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
    like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?

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“Judah mourns,(A)
    her cities languish;
they wail for the land,
    and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
The nobles send their servants for water;
    they go to the cisterns
    but find no water.(B)
They return with their jars unfilled;
    dismayed and despairing,
    they cover their heads.(C)
The ground is cracked
    because there is no rain in the land;(D)
the farmers are dismayed
    and cover their heads.
Even the doe in the field
    deserts her newborn fawn
    because there is no grass.(E)
Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights(F)
    and pant like jackals;
their eyes fail
    for lack of food.”(G)

Although our sins testify(H) against us,
    do something, Lord, for the sake of your name.(I)
For we have often rebelled;(J)
    we have sinned(K) against you.
You who are the hope(L) of Israel,
    its Savior(M) in times of distress,(N)
why are you like a stranger in the land,
    like a traveler who stays only a night?

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30 (A)You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall ravish her. (B)You shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it. (C)You shall plant a vineyard, but you shall not enjoy its fruit. 31 Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat any of it. Your donkey shall be seized before your face, but shall not be restored to you. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies, but there shall be no one to help you. 32 (D)Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and fail with longing for them all day long, (E)but you shall be helpless. 33 A nation that you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually, 34 so that you are driven mad (F)by the sights that your eyes see. 35 The Lord will strike you on the knees and on the legs (G)with grievous boils of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.

36 “The Lord will (H)bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you (I)nor your fathers have known. And (J)there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. 37 And you shall become (K)a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the Lord will lead you away. 38 (L)You shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for (M)the locust shall consume it. 39 (N)You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them. 40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you (O)shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off. 41 You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for (P)they shall go into captivity.

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30 You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and rape her.(A) You will build a house, but you will not live in it.(B) You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit.(C) 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation,(D) and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. 33 A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression(E) all your days.(F) 34 The sights you see will drive you mad.(G) 35 The Lord will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils(H) that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.(I)

36 The Lord will drive you and the king(J) you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors.(K) There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.(L) 37 You will become a thing of horror,(M) a byword(N) and an object of ridicule(O) among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you.(P)

38 You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little,(Q) because locusts(R) will devour(S) it. 39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine(T) or gather the grapes, because worms will eat(U) them.(V) 40 You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off.(W) 41 You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity.(X)

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Curses for Disobedience

15 “But (A)if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and (B)overtake you. 16 Cursed shall you be (C)in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. 17 Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 18 Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.

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Curses for Disobedience

15 However, if you do not obey(A) the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today,(B) all these curses will come on you and overtake you:(C)

16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.(D)

17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.(E)

18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.(F)

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