CHAPTER 1
Hear
this,
O elders;
and give ear,
all
who dwell
in the land.
Has anything like this
ever happened
in your days
or
in the days
of your forefathers?
Tell
your children
about it,
and let your children
tell their children—
and their children,
the next
generation.
What the devouring locust
has left,
the swarming locust
has eaten;
what the swarming locust
has left,
the young locust
has eaten;
and what the young locust
has left,
the destroying locust
has eaten.
Wake up,
you drunkards,
and weep;
wail,
all
you drinkers
of wine,
because of
the sweet wine,
for
it has been cut off
from your mouth.
For
a nation
has invaded
My land,
powerful
and without
number;
its teeth
are those
of a lion,
and its fangs
are those of a lioness.
It has laid
waste
My grapevine
and splintered
My fig tree.
It has stripped off the bark
and thrown it away;
the branches
have turned white.
Grain and drink offerings
have been cut off
from the house
of the LORD;
the priests
are in mourning,
those who minister
before the LORD.
The field
is ruined;
the land
mourns;
indeed,
the grain
is destroyed;
the new wine
is dried up,
the oil fails.
Be dismayed,
O farmers,
wail,
O vinedressers,
over
the wheat
and
barley,
because
the harvest
of the field
has perished.
The grapevine
is dried up,
and the fig tree
is withered;
the pomegranate,
palm,
and apple—
all
the trees
of the orchard—
are withered.
Surely
the joy
of
mankind
has dried up.
Put on sackcloth
and lament,
O priests;
wail,
O ministers
of the altar.
Come,
spend the night
in sackcloth,
O ministers
of my God,
because
the grain
and drink offerings
are withheld
from the house
of your God.
Consecrate
a fast;
proclaim
a solemn assembly!
Gather
the elders
and all
the residents
of the land
to the house
of the LORD
your God,
and cry out
to
the LORD.
Alas
for the day!
For
the Day
of the LORD
is near,
and it will come
like destruction
from the Almighty.
The seeds
lie shriveled
beneath
the clods;
the storehouses
are in ruins;
the granaries
are broken down,
for
the grain
has withered away.
How
the cattle
groan!
The herds
wander in confusion
because
they have no
pasture.
Even
the flocks
of sheep
are suffering.
To You,
O LORD,
I call,
for
fire
has consumed
the open
pastures
and flames
have scorched
all
the trees
of the field.
Even
the beasts
of the field
pant
for You,
for
the streams
of water
have dried up,
and fire
has consumed
the open
pastures.