Hosea 1:1 - Joel 3

English Standard Version

² “Plead with your mother, plead—
    for ^(AA)she is not my wife,
    and I am not her husband—
that she put away ^(AB)her whoring from her face,
    and her adultery from between her breasts;
³ lest ^(AC)I strip her naked
    and make her as ^(AD)in the day she was born,
and ^(AE)make her like a wilderness,
    and make her like a parched land,
    and kill her with thirst.
^4 (AF)Upon her children also I will have no mercy,
    ^(AG)because they are children of whoredom.
⁵ For ^(AH)their mother has played the whore;
    she who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For ^(AI)she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
    who ^(AJ)give me my bread and my water,
    my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’
⁶ Therefore ^(AK)I will hedge up her^[i] way with thorns,
    and ^(AL)I will build a wall against her,
    so that she cannot find her paths.
⁷ She shall pursue her lovers
    but not overtake them,
and she shall seek them
    but shall not find them.
^(AM)Then she shall say,
    ‘I will go and return to ^(AN)my first husband,
    ^(AO)for it was better for me then than now.’
⁸ And ^(AP)she did not know
    that it was ^(AQ)I who gave her
    ^(AR)the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and who lavished on ^(AS)her silver and gold,
    ^(AT)which they used for Baal.
⁹ Therefore ^(AU)I will take back
    my grain in its time,
    and my wine in its season,
and ^(AV)I will take away my wool and my flax,
    which were to cover her nakedness.
¹⁰ Now ^(AW)I will uncover her lewdness
    in the sight of her lovers,
    and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.
^11 (AX)And I will put an end to all her mirth,
    her feasts, her ^(AY)new moons, her ^(AZ)Sabbaths,
    and all her ^(BA)appointed feasts.
¹² And ^(BB)I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees,
    ^(BC)of which she said,
‘These are ^(BD)my wages,
    which my lovers have given me.’
I will make them a forest,
    ^(BE)and the beasts of the field shall devour them.
¹³ And ^(BF)I will punish her for ^(BG)the feast days of the Baals
    when she burned offerings to them
and ^(BH)adorned herself with her ring and jewelry,
    and went after her lovers
    and forgot me, declares the Lord.

²¹ “And ^(BU)in that day ^(BV)I will answer, declares the Lord,
    I will answer the heavens,
    and they shall answer the earth,
²² and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and they shall answer ^(BW)Jezreel,^[l]
23     and ^(BX)I will sow her for myself in the land.
And ^(BY)I ^(BZ)will have mercy on No Mercy,^[m]
    and ^(CA)I will say to Not My People,^{[n] (CB)}‘You are my people’;
    and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”

^4 (CY)Yet let no one contend,
    and let none accuse,
    for with you is ^(CZ)my contention, O priest.^[p]
5 You shall stumble by day;
    the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
    and I will destroy ^(DA)your mother.
⁶ My people are destroyed ^(DB)for lack of knowledge;
    ^(DC)because you have rejected knowledge,
    I reject you ^(DD)from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
    ^(DE)I also will forget your children.

^7 (DF)The more they increased,
    the more they sinned against me;
    ^(DG)I will change their glory into shame.
^8 (DH)They feed on the sin^[q] of my people;
    they are greedy for their iniquity.
^9 (DI)And it shall be like people, like priest;
    I will punish them for their ways
    and repay them for their deeds.
^10 (DJ)They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
    they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord
    to cherish ¹¹ whoredom, wine, and new wine,
    which ^(DK)take away the understanding.
¹² My people ^(DL)inquire of a piece of wood,
    and their walking staff gives them oracles.
For ^(DM)a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,
    and they have left their God to play the whore.
^13 (DN)They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
    and burn offerings on the hills,
^(DO)under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
    because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore,
    and your brides commit adultery.
¹⁴ I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,
    nor your brides when they commit adultery;
for ^(DP)the men themselves go aside with prostitutes
    and sacrifice with ^(DQ)cult prostitutes,
and a people ^(DR)without understanding shall come to ruin.

¹⁵ Though you play the whore, O ^(DS)Israel,
    let not ^(DT)Judah become guilty.
^(DU)Enter not into ^(DV)Gilgal,
    nor go up to ^(DW)Beth-aven,
    and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”
¹⁶ Like a stubborn heifer,
    Israel is stubborn;
can the Lord now feed them
    like a lamb in a broad pasture?

^17 (DX)Ephraim is joined to idols;
    ^(DY)leave him alone.
¹⁸ When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;
    ^(DZ)their rulers^[r] dearly love shame.
^19 (EA)A wind has wrapped them^[s] in its wings,
    and they shall ^(EB)be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

^3 (EI)I know Ephraim,
    and Israel is not hidden from me;
for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore;
    Israel is defiled.
^4 (EJ)Their deeds do not permit them
    to return to their God.
For ^(EK)the spirit of whoredom is within them,
    and they know not the Lord.

^5 (EL)The pride of Israel testifies to his face;^[t]
    Israel and ^(EM)Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt;
    ^(EN)Judah also shall stumble with them.
^6 (EO)With their flocks and herds they shall go
    to seek the Lord,
^(EP)but they will not find him;
    ^(EQ)he has withdrawn from them.
^7 (ER)They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord;
    for they have borne alien children.
    Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.

^8 (ES)Blow the horn in ^(ET)Gibeah,
    the trumpet in ^(EU)Ramah.
Sound the alarm at ^(EV)Beth-aven;
    we follow you,^[u] O Benjamin!
⁹ Ephraim shall become a desolation
    in the day of punishment;
among the tribes of Israel
    I make known what is sure.
¹⁰ The princes of Judah have become
    like ^(EW)those who move the landmark;
upon them I will pour out
    my wrath like water.
¹¹ Ephraim is ^(EX)oppressed, crushed in judgment,
    because he was determined to go after filth.^[v]
12 But I am ^(EY)like a moth to Ephraim,
    and ^(EZ)like dry rot to the house of Judah.

¹³ When Ephraim saw his sickness,
    and Judah ^(FA)his wound,
then Ephraim went ^(FB)to Assyria,
    and sent to the great king.^[w]
(FC)But he is not able to cure you
    or heal ^(FD)your wound.
¹⁴ For I will be ^(FE)like a lion to ^(FF)Ephraim,
    and like a young lion to the house of ^(FG)Judah.
^(FH)I, even I, will tear and go away;
    I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.

^15 (FI)I will return again to my place,
    until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,
    and ^(FJ)in their distress earnestly seek me.

⁴ What shall I do with you, ^(FT)O ^(FU)Ephraim?
    What shall I do with you, O ^(FV)Judah?
Your love is ^(FW)like a morning cloud,
    ^(FX)like the dew that goes early away.
⁵ Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
    I have slain them ^(FY)by the words of my mouth,
    and my judgment goes forth as the light.
⁶ For ^(FZ)I desire steadfast love^[x] and not sacrifice,
    ^(GA)the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

⁷ But ^(GB)like Adam they ^(GC)transgressed the covenant;
    ^(GD)there they dealt faithlessly with me.
^8 (GE)Gilead is a city of evildoers,
    ^(GF)tracked with blood.
⁹ As robbers ^(GG)lie in wait for a man,
    so the priests band together;
they murder on the way to ^(GH)Shechem;
    they commit villainy.
¹⁰ In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;
    ^(GI)Ephraim's whoredom is there; ^(GJ)Israel is defiled.

¹¹ For you also, O ^(GK)Judah, ^(GL)a harvest is appointed.

When ^(GM)I restore the fortunes of my people,
7 ^(GN)when I would heal Israel,
    the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed,
    and the evil deeds of ^(GO)Samaria,
for ^(GP)they deal falsely;
    the thief breaks in,
    and the bandits raid outside.
² But they do not consider
    that ^(GQ)I remember all their evil.
Now ^(GR)their deeds surround them;
    ^(GS)they are before my face.
³ By their evil ^(GT)they make ^(GU)the king glad,
    and the princes by their treachery.
^4 (GV)They are all adulterers;
    they are like a heated oven
whose baker ceases to stir the fire,
    from the kneading of the dough
    until it is leavened.
⁵ On the day of ^(GW)our king, the princes
    became sick with the heat of wine;
    he stretched out his hand with mockers.
⁶ For with hearts like an oven ^(GX)they approach their intrigue;
    all night their anger smolders;
    in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
⁷ All of them are hot as an oven,
    and they devour their rulers.
All ^(GY)their kings ^(GZ)have fallen,
    and none of them calls upon me.

⁸ Ephraim ^(HA)mixes himself with the peoples;
    Ephraim is a cake not turned.
^9 (HB)Strangers devour his strength,
    and ^(HC)he knows it not;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
    and ^(HD)he knows it not.
^10 (HE)The pride of Israel testifies to his face;^{[y]
    (HF)}yet they do not return to the Lord their God,
    nor seek him, for all this.

¹¹ Ephraim is like a dove,
    ^(HG)silly and without sense,
    calling to ^(HH)Egypt, going to ^(HI)Assyria.
¹² As they go, ^(HJ)I will spread over them my net;
    I will bring them down like birds of the heavens;
    ^(HK)I will discipline them ^(HL)according to the report made to their congregation.
^13 (HM)Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
    Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
^(HN)I would redeem them,
    but ^(HO)they speak lies against me.

^14 (HP)They do not cry to me from the heart,
    but ^(HQ)they wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves;
    they rebel against me.
¹⁵ Although ^(HR)I trained and strengthened their arms,
    yet they devise evil against me.
¹⁶ They ^(HS)return, but not upward;^[z]
    they are ^(HT)like a treacherous bow;
their princes shall fall by the sword
    because of ^(HU)the insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision ^(HV)in the land of Egypt.

^4 (IA)They made kings, ^(IB)but not through me.
    They set up princes, but I knew it not.
With their silver and gold they made idols
    for their own destruction.
^5 (IC)I have^[aa] spurned your calf, O Samaria.
    My anger burns against them.
^(ID)How long will they be incapable of innocence?
⁶ For it is from Israel;
a craftsman made it;
    it is not God.
^(IE)The calf of Samaria
    ^(IF)shall be broken to pieces.^[ab]

⁷ For ^(IG)they sow the wind,
    and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
    it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield,
    ^(IH)strangers would devour it.
^8 (II)Israel is swallowed up;
    already they are among the nations
    as ^(IJ)a useless vessel.
⁹ For ^(IK)they have gone up to Assyria,
    ^(IL)a wild donkey wandering alone;
    Ephraim has hired lovers.
¹⁰ Though they hire allies among the nations,
    I will soon gather them up.
And ^(IM)the king and princes ^(IN)shall soon writhe
    because of the tribute.

¹¹ Because Ephraim ^(IO)has multiplied altars for sinning,
    they have become to him altars for sinning.
^12 (IP)Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,
    they would be regarded as a strange thing.
¹³ As for my sacrificial offerings,
    ^(IQ)they sacrifice meat and eat it,
    but the Lord does not accept them.
^(IR)Now he will remember their iniquity
    and punish their sins;
    ^(IS)they shall return to Egypt.
¹⁴ For ^(IT)Israel has forgotten ^(IU)his Maker
    and ^(IV)built palaces,
and ^(IW)Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
    so ^(IX)I will send a fire upon his cities,
    and it shall devour her strongholds.

^4 (JF)They shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the Lord,
    ^(JG)and their sacrifices shall not please him.
It shall be like ^(JH)mourners' bread to them;
    all who eat of it shall be defiled;
for their bread shall be for their hunger only;
    ^(JI)it shall not come to the house of the Lord.

^5 (JJ)What will you do on the day of the appointed festival,
    and on the day of the feast of the Lord?
⁶ For behold, they are going away from destruction;
    but ^(JK)Egypt shall gather them;
    Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess ^(JL)their precious things of silver;
    ^(JM)thorns shall be in their tents.

^7 (JN)The days of punishment have come;
    the days of recompense have come;
    Israel shall know it.
^(JO)The prophet is a fool;
    the man of the spirit is mad,
because of your great iniquity
    and great hatred.
⁸ The prophet is ^(JP)the watchman of Ephraim with my God;
yet ^(JQ)a fowler's snare is on all his ways,
    and hatred in the house of his God.
^9 (JR)They have deeply corrupted themselves
    as ^(JS)in the days of Gibeah:
^(JT)he will remember their iniquity;
    he will punish their sins.

¹⁰ Like grapes in the wilderness,
    ^(JU)I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree
    in its first season,
    I saw your fathers.
But ^(JV)they came to Baal-peor
    and ^(JW)consecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
    and ^(JX)became detestable like the thing they loved.
¹¹ Ephraim's ^(JY)glory shall fly away like a bird—
    ^(JZ)no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
^12 (KA)Even if they bring up children,
    I will bereave them till none is left.
^(KB)Woe to them
    when ^(KC)I depart from them!
¹³ Ephraim, ^(KD)as I have seen, was like a young palm^[ac] planted in a meadow;
    but ^(KE)Ephraim must lead his children out to slaughter.^[ad]
14 Give them, O Lord—
    what will you give?
Give them ^(KF)a miscarrying womb
    and dry breasts.

¹⁵ Every evil of theirs is in ^(KG)Gilgal;
    there I began to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
    I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
    all ^(KH)their princes are ^(KI)rebels.

¹⁶ Ephraim is stricken;
    ^(KJ)their root is dried up;
    they shall bear no fruit.
Even ^(KK)though they give birth,
    ^(KL)I will put their beloved children to death.
^17 (KM)My God will reject them
    because they have not listened to him;
    ^(KN)they shall be wanderers among the nations.

10 ^(KO)Israel is a luxuriant vine
    that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
    ^(KP)the more altars he built;
as his country improved,
    he improved his pillars.
² Their heart is false;
    now they must bear their guilt.
The Lord^[ae] will break down their altars
    and destroy their pillars.

³ For now they will say:
    ^(KQ)“We have no king,
for we do not fear the Lord;
    and a king—what could he do for us?”
⁴ They utter ^(KR)mere words;
    with empty^[af] oaths they make covenants;
so ^(KS)judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
    ^(KT)in the furrows of the field.
⁵ The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
    for ^(KU)the calf^[ag] of ^(KV)Beth-aven.
Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests—
    those who rejoiced over it and ^(KW)over its glory—
    for it has departed^[ah] from them.
^6 (KX)The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria
    as tribute to ^(KY)the great king.^[ai]
Ephraim shall be put to shame,
    and Israel shall be ashamed ^(KZ)of his idol.^[aj]

^7 (LA)Samaria's king shall perish
    like a twig on the face of the waters.
⁸ The high places of ^(LB)Aven, ^(LC)the sin of Israel,
    shall be destroyed.
^(LD)Thorn and thistle shall grow up
    on their altars,
and ^(LE)they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
    and to the hills, “Fall on us.”

⁹ From ^(LF)the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel;
    there they have continued.
    Shall not the war against the unjust^[ak] overtake them in Gibeah?
^10 (LG)When I please, ^(LH)I will discipline them,
    and nations shall be gathered against them
    when they are bound up for ^(LI)their double iniquity.

¹¹ Ephraim was a trained calf
    that ^(LJ)loved to thresh,
    and I spared her fair neck;
but I will put ^(LK)Ephraim to the yoke;
    ^(LL)Judah must plow;
    Jacob must harrow for himself.
^12 (LM)Sow for yourselves righteousness;
    reap steadfast love;
    ^(LN)break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord,
    that he may come and ^(LO)rain righteousness upon you.

^13 (LP)You have plowed iniquity;
    you have reaped injustice;
    you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your own way
    and in the multitude of your warriors,
¹⁴ therefore ^(LQ)the tumult of war shall arise among your people,
    and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as ^(LR)Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle;
    ^(LS)mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
¹⁵ Thus it shall be done to you, O ^(LT)Bethel,
    because of your great evil.
At dawn ^(LU)the king of Israel
    shall be utterly cut off.

³ Yet it was ^(MB)I who taught Ephraim to walk;
    I took them up by their arms,
    but they did not know that ^(MC)I healed them.
^4 (MD)I led them with cords of kindness,^[al]
    with the bands of love,
and ^(ME)I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,
    and ^(MF)I bent down to them and fed them.

^5 (MG)They shall not^[am] return to the land of Egypt,
    but ^(MH)Assyria shall be their king,
    ^(MI)because ^(MJ)they have refused to return to me.
^6 (MK)The sword shall rage against their cities,
    consume the bars of their gates,
    and devour them ^(ML)because of their own counsels.
⁷ My people are bent ^(MM)on turning away from me,
    and though ^(MN)they call out to the Most High,
    he shall not raise them up at all.

⁸ How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
    How can I hand you over, O Israel?
^(MO)How can I make you ^(MP)like Admah?
    How can I treat you ^(MQ)like Zeboiim?
^(MR)My heart recoils within me;
    my compassion grows warm and tender.
⁹ I will not execute my burning anger;
    I will not again destroy Ephraim;
^(MS)for I am God and not a man,
    ^(MT)the Holy One in your midst,
    and I will not come in wrath.^[an]

^10 (MU)They shall go after the Lord;
    ^(MV)he will roar like a lion;
when he roars,
    his children shall come trembling ^(MW)from the west;
¹¹ they shall come trembling like birds ^(MX)from Egypt,
    and ^(MY)like doves ^(MZ)from the land of Assyria,
    and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.
^12 [ao] Ephraim ^(NA)has surrounded me with lies,
    and the house of Israel with deceit,
but Judah still walks with God
    and is faithful to the Holy One.
12 Ephraim feeds on the wind
    and pursues ^(NB)the east wind all day long;
they multiply ^(NC)falsehood and violence;
    ^(ND)they make a covenant with Assyria,
    and ^(NE)oil is carried to Egypt.

⁷ A merchant, in whose hands are ^(NL)false balances,
    he loves ^(NM)to oppress.
⁸ Ephraim has said, “Ah, but ^(NN)I am rich;
    I have found wealth for myself;
in all my labors ^(NO)they cannot find in me iniquity or sin.”
^9 (NP)I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
I will again make you ^(NQ)dwell in tents,
    as in the days of the appointed feast.

^10 (NR)I spoke to the prophets;
    it was I who multiplied ^(NS)visions,
    and through the prophets gave parables.
^11 (NT)If there is iniquity in Gilead,
    they shall surely come to nothing:
^(NU)in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;
    ^(NV)their altars also are like stone heaps
    ^(NW)on the furrows of the field.
^12 (NX)Jacob fled to the land of Aram;
    there Israel ^(NY)served for a wife,
    and for a wife he guarded sheep.
¹³ By ^(NZ)a prophet ^(OA)the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
    and by a prophet he was guarded.
^14 (OB)Ephraim has given bitter provocation;
    so his Lord ^(OC)will leave his bloodguilt on him
    ^(OD)and will repay him for his disgraceful deeds.

⁴ But ^(ON)I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
^(OO)you know no God but me,
    and ^(OP)besides me there is no savior.
^5 (OQ)It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
    in the land of drought;
^6 (OR)but when they had grazed,^[aq] they became full,
    ^(OS)they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
    ^(OT)therefore they forgot me.
⁷ So ^(OU)I am to them like a lion;
    ^(OV)like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
⁸ I will fall upon them ^(OW)like a bear robbed of her cubs;
    I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
    ^(OX)as a wild beast would rip them open.

⁹ He destroys^[ar] you, O Israel,
    for you are against me, against ^(OY)your helper.
^10 (OZ)Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities?
    Where are all your rulers—
those of whom ^(PA)you said,
    “Give me a king and princes”?
^11 (PB)I gave you a king in my anger,
    and ^(PC)I took him away in my wrath.

¹² The iniquity of Ephraim is ^(PD)bound up;
    his sin is ^(PE)kept in store.
^13 (PF)The pangs of childbirth come for him,
    but he is an unwise son,
for at the right time he does not present himself
    ^(PG)at the opening of the womb.

^14 (PH)I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
    ^(PI)I shall redeem them from Death.^[as]
(PJ)O ^(PK)Death, where are your plagues?
    ^(PL)O ^(PM)Sheol, where is your sting?
    ^(PN)Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

¹⁵ Though ^(PO)he may flourish among his brothers,
    ^(PP)the east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,
    rising from the wilderness,
^(PQ)and his fountain shall dry up;
    his spring shall be parched;
it shall strip ^(PR)his treasury
    of every precious thing.
^16 [at] Samaria ^(PS)shall bear her guilt,
    because ^(PT)she has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword;
    ^(PU)their little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
    and their ^(PV)pregnant women ripped open.

⁴ I ^(QE)will heal their apostasy;
    ^(QF)I will love them freely,
    for my anger has turned from them.
^5 (QG)I will be like the dew to Israel;
    ^(QH)he shall blossom like the lily;
    he shall take root like the trees ^(QI)of Lebanon;
⁶ his shoots shall spread out;
    his beauty shall be ^(QJ)like the olive,
    and his fragrance like Lebanon.
⁷ They shall return and ^(QK)dwell beneath my^[av] shadow;
    they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine;
    their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸ O ^(QL)Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
    It is I who answer and look after you.^[aw]
I am like an evergreen cypress;
    ^(QM)from me comes your fruit.

^9 (QN)Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
    whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
    and ^(QO)the upright walk in them,
    ^(QP)but transgressors stumble in them.

⁴ What ^(QV)the cutting locust left,
    ^(QW)the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
    ^(QX)the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
    ^(QY)the destroying locust has eaten.

⁵ Awake, you drunkards, and weep,
    and ^(QZ)wail, all you drinkers of wine,
because of ^(RA)the sweet wine,
    for it is cut off from your mouth.
⁶ For ^(RB)a nation has come up against my land,
    ^(RC)powerful and beyond number;
^(RD)its teeth are lions' teeth,
    and it has the fangs of a lioness.
⁷ It has laid waste my vine
    and splintered my ^(RE)fig tree;
it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
    their branches are made white.

⁸ Lament like a virgin^{[ax] (RF)}wearing sackcloth
    for the bridegroom of her youth.
^9 (RG)The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
    from the house of the Lord.
^(RH)The priests mourn,
    ^(RI)the ministers of the Lord.
¹⁰ The fields are destroyed,
    ^(RJ)the ground mourns,
because ^(RK)the grain is destroyed,
    ^(RL)the wine dries up,
    the oil languishes.

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

^14 (RW)Consecrate a fast;
    ^(RX)call a solemn assembly.
Gather ^(RY)the elders
    and ^(RZ)all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
    and cry out to the Lord.

¹⁵ Alas for the day!
^(SA)For the day of the Lord is near,
    and as destruction from the Almighty^[az] it comes.
¹⁶ Is not the food cut off
    before our eyes,
^(SB)joy and gladness
    from the house of our God?

^17 (SC)The seed shrivels under the clods;^[ba]
    the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
    because ^(SD)the grain has dried up.
¹⁸ How ^(SE)the beasts groan!
    The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
    even the flocks of sheep suffer.^[bb]

¹⁹ To you, ^(SF)O Lord, I call.
^(SG)For fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness,
^(SH)and flame has burned
    all the trees of the field.
²⁰ Even the beasts of the field ^(SI)pant for you
    because the water brooks are dried up,
^(SJ)and fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness.

^3 (SS)Fire devours before them,
    and behind them a flame burns.
The land is like ^(ST)the garden of Eden before them,
    but ^(SU)behind them a desolate wilderness,
    and nothing escapes them.

^4 (SV)Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
    and like war horses they run.
^5 (SW)As with the rumbling of chariots,
    they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of ^(SX)a flame of fire
    devouring the stubble,
^(SY)like a powerful army
    drawn up for battle.

⁶ Before them peoples are in anguish;
    ^(SZ)all faces grow pale.
⁷ Like warriors they charge;
    like soldiers they scale the wall.
They march each on his way;
    they do not swerve from their paths.
⁸ They do not jostle one another;
    ^(TA)each marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
    and are not halted.
^9 (TB)They leap upon the city,
    they run upon the walls,
^(TC)they climb up into the houses,
    ^(TD)they enter through the windows ^(TE)like a thief.

^10 (TF)The earth quakes before them;
    the heavens tremble.
^(TG)The sun and the moon are darkened,
    and the stars withdraw their shining.
^11 (TH)The Lord utters his voice
    before ^(TI)his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
    ^(TJ)he who executes his word is powerful.
^(TK)For the day of the Lord is ^(TL)great and very awesome;
    ^(TM)who can endure it?

^15 (TW)Blow the trumpet in Zion;
    ^(TX)consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
¹⁶     gather the people.
^(TY)Consecrate the congregation;
    assemble the elders;
^(TZ)gather the children,
    even nursing infants.
^(UA)Let the bridegroom leave his room,
    and the bride her chamber.

^17 (UB)Between the ^(UC)vestibule and the ^(UD)altar
    ^(UE)let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
    and make not your heritage a reproach,
    a byword among the nations.^[bc]
(UF)Why should they say among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?’”

²⁰ “I will remove the northerner far from you,
    and drive him into a parched and desolate land,
his vanguard^[bd] into ^(UK)the eastern sea,
    and his rear guard^[be] into ^(UL)the western sea;
^(UM)the stench and foul smell of him will rise,
    for he has done great things.

²¹ “Fear not, O land;
    be glad and rejoice,
    for ^(UN)the Lord has done great things!
²² Fear not, ^(UO)you beasts of the field,
    for ^(UP)the pastures of the wilderness are green;
^(UQ)the tree bears its fruit;
    the fig tree and ^(UR)vine give their full yield.

^23 (US)“Be glad, O children of Zion,
    and ^(UT)rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given ^(UU)the early rain for your vindication;
    he has poured down for you abundant rain,
    ^(UV)the early and ^(UW)the latter rain, as before.

²⁴ “The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
    the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
²⁵ I will restore^[bf] to you the years
    that ^(UX)the swarming locust has eaten,
^(UY)the hopper, ^(UZ)the destroyer, and ^(VA)the cutter,
    ^(VB)my great army, which I sent among you.

^26 (VC)“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
    and praise the name of the Lord your God,
    who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people ^(VD)shall never again be put to shame.
^27 (VE)You shall know that I am ^(VF)in the midst of Israel,
    and that ^(VG)I am the Lord your God ^(VH)and there is none else.
And my people ^(VI)shall never again be put to shame.