Hear this, you elders, And listen, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days, Or in your fathers’ days?

Awake, you heavy drinkers, and weep; And wail, all you wine drinkers, Because of the sweet wine, For it has been eliminated from your mouth.

The vine has dried up And the fig tree has withered; The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree, All the trees of the field have dried up. Indeed, joy has dried up From the sons of mankind.

Starvation and Drought

Consecrate a fast, Proclaim 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.

To You, Lord, I cry out; For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.

The Terrible Visitation

Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the Lord is coming; Indeed, it is near,

A fire consumes before them, And behind them a flame devours. The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, But a desolate wilderness behind them, And nothing at all escapes them.

Before them the people are in anguish; All faces turn pale.

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping, and mourning;

The Promise of the Spirit

“It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters will prophesy, Your old men will have dreams, Your young men will see visions.

I will gather all the nations And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; And they have divided up My land.

Moreover, what are you to Me, Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you repaying Me with retribution? But if you are showing Me retribution, swiftly and speedily I will return your retribution on your head!

Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for holy war; stir up the warriors! Have all the soldiers come forward, have them come up!

Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, And gather yourselves there. Bring down, Lord, Your warriors.

Let the nations be awakened And come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I will sit to judge All the surrounding nations.

Judah Will Be Blessed

And on that day The mountains will drip with sweet wine, And the hills will flow with milk, And all the brooks of Judah will flow with water; And a spring will go out from the house of the Lord And water the Valley of Shittim.

But Judah will be inhabited forever, And Jerusalem for all generations.