A Plague of Locusts
2Hear this, Hs 4:1; 5:1 you elders;
listen, all you inhabitants of the land.
Has anything like this ever happened in your days Dt 4:32; Jr 2:10; Mk 2:12
or in the days of your ancestors?
3Tell your children about it, Ex 10:2; Jos 4:22; Ps 78:4
and let your children tell their children,
and their children the next generation.
4What the devouring locust Ex 10:4; Jl 2:25; Am 4:9 has left,
the swarming locust has eaten;
what the swarming locust has left,
the young locust Ps 105:34; Nah 3:15-16 has eaten;
and what the young locust has left,
the destroying locust Ps 78:46; Is 33:4 has eaten.
5Wake up, you drunkards, Jl 3:3 and weep;
wail, all you wine drinkers,
because of the sweet wine,
for it has been taken from your mouth.
6For a nation has invaded My land, Jl 2:2,11,25
powerful and without number;
its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
and it has the fangs of a lioness. Rv 9:7-8
7It has devastated My grapevine
and splintered My fig tree.
It has stripped off its bark and thrown it away;
its branches have turned white.
8Grieve like a young woman dressed in sackcloth, Is 22:12; Jr 4:8; 6:26
mourning for the husband of her youth.
9Grain and drink offerings have been cut off Hs 9:4; Jl 2:14
from the house of the Lord;
the priests, who are ministers of the Lord, mourn. Hs 10:5; Jl 2:17
10The fields are destroyed; Is 24:4
the land grieves;
indeed, the grain is destroyed;
the new wine is dried up; Hs 9:2
and the olive oil fails. Dt 28:51; Hs 2:8-13; Hg 1:11
11Be ashamed, you farmers, Jr 14:4; 51:23; Am 5:16
wail, you vinedressers, Or The farmers are dismayed, the vinedressers wail
over the wheat and the barley,
because the harvest of the field has perished. Is 17:11; Jr 9:12
12The grapevine is dried up, Hab 3:17
and the fig tree is withered;
the pomegranate, Hg 2:19 the date palm, Sg 7:8 and the apple Sg 2:3 —
all the trees of the orchard — have withered.
Indeed, human joy has dried up. Is 16:10; 24:11
wail, Jr 9:10 you ministers of the altar.
Come and spend the night in sackcloth, 1Kg 21:27
you ministers of my God,
because grain and drink offerings
are withheld from the house of your God.
14Announce a sacred fast; Jl 2:15-16
proclaim an assembly!
Gather the elders Jl 1:2
and all the residents of the land
at the house of the Lord your God, 2Ch 20:3; Neh 9:1; Jr 36:6,9
and cry out to the Lord. Jnh 3:8
The Day of the Lord
15Woe because of that day! Jr 30:7; Am 5:16
For the Day of the Lord is near
and will come as devastation from the Almighty. Is 13:6,9; Ezk 30:2-3; Jl 2:1-2,11,31
16Hasn’t the food been cut off
before our eyes, Is 3:7
joy and gladness Is 16:10; Jr 48:33
from the house of our God?
The storehouses are in ruin,
and the granaries are broken down,
because the grain has withered away.
18How the animals groan! 1Kg 18:5; Jr 12:4; 14:5-6; Hs 4:3
The herds of cattle wander in confusion
since they have no pasture.
Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.
for fire has consumed
the pastures of the wilderness, Jr 9:10; Am 7:4
and flames have devoured
all the trees of the countryside.
for the river beds are dried up, 1Kg 17:7; 18:5
and fire has consumed
the pastures of the wilderness.
Holman Christian Standard Bible®
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009
by Holman Bible Publishers
