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13 Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests!
    Wail, you ministers of the altar.
Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God,[a]
    for the meal offering and the drink offering are withheld from your God’s house.
14 Sanctify a fast.
    Call a solemn assembly.
    Gather the elders,
    and all the inhabitants of the land, to the house of Yahweh, your God,
    and cry to Yahweh.
15 Alas for the day!
    For the day of Yahweh is at hand,
    and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
16 Isn’t the food cut off before our eyes,
    joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 The seeds rot under their clods.
    The granaries are laid desolate.
    The barns are broken down, for the grain has withered.
18 How the animals groan!
    The herds of livestock are perplexed, because they have no pasture.
    Yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
19 Yahweh, I cry to you,
    For the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
    and the flame has burned all the trees of the field.
20 Yes, the animals of the field pant to you,
    for the water brooks have dried up,
    And the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:13 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).

A Call to Repentance and Prayer

13 Put on sackcloth and lament, you priests;
    wail, you ministers of the altar.
Come, pass the night in sackcloth,
    you ministers of my God!
Grain offering and drink offering
    are withheld from the house of your God.(A)

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

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

17 The seed shrivels under the clods;[b]
    the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are ruined
    because the grain has withered.
18 How the animals groan!
    The herds of cattle wander about
because there is no pasture for them;
    even the flocks of sheep are perishing.(E)

19 To you, O Lord, I cry,
for fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness,
and flames have burned
    all the trees of the field.(F)
20 Even the wild animals cry to you
    because the watercourses are dried up,
and fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. 1.15 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
  2. 1.17 Meaning of Heb uncertain