Study Desk

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things and know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and those who are right and good will follow them, but sinners will not follow them.

Wake up and cry, you who drink too much. Cry in a loud voice, all you who drink wine, for the sweet wine has been taken from your lips.

Be troubled, you farmers! Cry in a loud voice, you who take care of the vines! Cry for the wheat and the barley, because what was gathered from the field is destroyed.

Dress in cloth made from hair, and cry in sorrow, you religious leaders! Cry in a loud voice, you who serve at the altar! Come, spend the night in cloth made from hair, you who serve my God. For the grain gifts and drink gifts are kept from the house of your God.

The seeds dry up under the ground. The store-houses are laid waste. The buildings where the grain was kept are torn down, for the grain is destroyed.

How the animals cry inside themselves! The cattle go from place to place because there is no food for them. Even the flocks of sheep suffer.

I cry to You, O Lord. For fire has destroyed the fields of the desert. All the trees of the field have burned up.

Even the animals of the field cry to You. For the rivers are dried up, and fire has burned up the fields of the desert.

Blow a horn in Zion! Give the sound of danger on My holy mountain! Let all the people of the land shake in fear, for the day of the Lord is coming. The day is near.

It will be a day of darkness, a day of clouds and much darkness. A large and powerful army will come like darkness spreading over the mountains. There has never been anything like it, and there will never be anything like it again for all time to come.

As they jump on the tops of the mountains they sound like war-wagons. They sound like a fire burning up the dry grass, like a powerful army ready for battle.

Tear your heart and not your clothes." Return to the Lord your God, for He is full of loving-kindness and loving-pity. He is slow to anger, full of love, and ready to keep His punishment from you.

It may be that He will turn and have pity, and leave good behind for you. He may leave you a grain gift and a drink gift for the Lord your God.

Then the Lord will be jealous for His land and have pity on His people.

I will take the army from the north far from you, and will drive it into a hot and dry land. The ones in front will be driven into the sea in the east. The ones in the back will be driven into the sea in the west. And a bad smell will rise up from their dead bodies. For He has done great things."

Do not be afraid, O land. Have joy and be glad, for the Lord has done great things.

Do not be afraid, you animals of the field. For the fields of the desert have turned green and there is fruit on the trees. The fig trees and vines are full of fruit.

Be glad, O sons of Zion. Be happy in the Lord your God. For He has given the early rain to help you. He has poured down much rain for you, both fall and spring rains, as before.

"I will pay you back for the years that your food was eaten by the flying locust, the jumping locust, the destroying locust, and the chewing locust, My large army which I sent among you.

You will have much to eat and be filled. And you will praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has done wonderful things for you. Then My people will never be put to shame.