An Army of Locusts
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand— “Announce in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say: ‘Sound the trumpet throughout the land!’ Cry aloud and say: ‘Gather together! Let us flee to the fortified cities!’ When a trumpet blast is sounded, the tribes camping on the east are to set out. “The day of the Lord is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head. The great day of the Lord is near—near and coming quickly. The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter;
the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry.
A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come. Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light. A nation has invaded my land, a mighty army without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness. They invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again.
Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste—nothing escapes them. Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing. ‘I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’”
They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry. The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces.
With a noise like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops, like a crackling fire consuming stubble,
like a mighty army drawn up for battle. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.
At the sight of them, nations are in anguish; every face turns pale. Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and horror grips me. But now they are blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as a stick. She is pillaged, plundered, stripped! Hearts melt, knees give way, bodies tremble, every face grows pale.
They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course. They do not jostle each other; each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defenses
without breaking ranks.
They rush upon the city; they run along the wall. They climb into the houses; like thieves they enter through the windows. Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our fortresses; it has removed the children from the streets and the young men from the public squares. “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.
Before them the earth shakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine. The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light.The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. “Immediately after the distress of those days “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
The Lord thunders at the head of his army;his forces are beyond number, and mighty is the army that obeys his command. The day of the Lord is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it? “Now prophesy all these words against them and say to them: “‘The Lord will roar from on high; he will thunder from his holy dwelling and roar mightily against his land. He will shout like those who tread the grapes, shout against all who live on the earth. Yet their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon. Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her. How awful that day will be! No other will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it. Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light. That day will be a day of wrath—a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness—But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.
Rend Your Heart
“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” “If you, Israel, will return, then return to me, declares the Lord.“If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray, But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.
Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. Then David and all the men with him took hold of their clothes and tore them. At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship, and he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing—grain offerings and drink offerings
for the Lord your God. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day.You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridiculethe living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.” Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit. “‘From this day on I will bless you.’” Grain offerings and drink offerings are cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests are in mourning, those who minister before the Lord. Put on sackcloth, you priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar.Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.
Gather the people, consecrate the assembly;bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes. He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east.
Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the portico and the altar. Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?” But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people.
The Lord’s Answer
Then the Lord was jealous for his land and took pity on his people. “Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion.The Lord replied to them:“I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations. The fields are ruined, the ground is dried up; the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the olive oil fails. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
“I will drive the northern horde far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land;its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea. And its stench will go up; its smell will rise.” Surely he has done great things! And the Lord changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea. Not a locust was left anywhere in Egypt. The Lord said to me, “From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea.
Do not be afraid, land of Judah;be glad and rejoice. Surely the Lord has done great things!
Do not be afraid, you wild animals, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. To you, Lord, I call, for fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up, and a gale will blow them away. But you will rejoice in the Lord and glory in the Holy One of Israel. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Ephraimites will become like warriors, and their hearts will be glad as with wine. Their children will see it and be joyful; their hearts will rejoice in the Lord. I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit.
The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm —my great army that I sent among you. What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten.
You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.
Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed. I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me,
The Day of the Lord
“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.” “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. All your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. “But in those days, following that distress, “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,there will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. See, the day of the Lord is coming —a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” I am bringing my righteousness near, it is not far away; and my salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion, my splendor to Israel. And in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean. This is what the Lord says: “Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations. Make your praises heard, and say, ‘Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’ I will make the lame my remnant, those driven away a strong nation. The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever. Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved.
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