Hosea 2:9

2:9 Therefore, I will take back ¹  my grain during the harvest time ² 

and my new wine when it ripens; ³ 

I will take away my wool and my flax

which I had provided ⁴  in order to clothe her. ⁵ 

Hosea 2:12

2:12 I will destroy her vines and fig trees,

about which she said, “These are my wages for prostitution ⁶ 

that my lovers gave to me!”

I will turn her cultivated vines and fig trees ⁷  into an uncultivated thicket,

so that wild animals ⁸  will devour them.

Isaiah 24:7-12

24:7 The new wine dries up,

the vines shrivel up,

all those who like to celebrate ⁹  groan.

24:8 The happy sound ¹⁰  of the tambourines stops,

the revelry of those who celebrate comes to a halt,

the happy sound of the harp ceases.

24:9 They no longer sing and drink wine; ¹¹ 

the beer tastes bitter to those who drink it.

24:10 The ruined town ¹²  is shattered;

all of the houses are shut up tight. ¹³ 

24:11 They howl in the streets because of what happened to the wine; ¹⁴ 

all joy turns to sorrow; ¹⁵ 

celebrations disappear from the earth. ¹⁶ 

24:12 The city is left in ruins; ¹⁷ 

the gate is reduced to rubble. ¹⁸ 

Joel 1:3-7

1:3 Tell your children ¹⁹  about it,

have your children tell their children,

and their children the following generation. ²⁰ 

1:4 What the gazam-locust left the ‘arbeh-locust consumed, ²¹ 

what the ‘arbeh-locust left the yeleq-locust consumed,

and what the yeleq-locust left the hasil-locust consumed! ²² 

1:5 Wake up, you drunkards, ²³  and weep!

Wail, all you wine drinkers, ²⁴ 

because the sweet wine ²⁵  has been taken away ²⁶  from you. ²⁷ 

1:6 For a nation ²⁸  has invaded ²⁹  our ³⁰  land.

There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. ³¹ 

Their teeth are like those ³²  of a lion;

they tear apart their prey like a lioness. ³³ 

1:7 They ³⁴  have destroyed our ³⁵  vines; ³⁶ 

they have turned our ³⁷  fig trees into mere splinters.

They have completely stripped off the bark ³⁸  and thrown them aside;

the ³⁹  twigs are stripped bare. ⁴⁰ 

Joel 1:9-13

1:9 No one brings grain offerings or drink offerings

to the temple ⁴¹  of the Lord anymore. ⁴² 

So the priests, those who serve the Lord, are in mourning.

1:10 The crops of the fields ⁴³  have been destroyed. ⁴⁴ 

The ground is in mourning because the grain has perished.

The fresh wine has dried up;

the olive oil languishes.

1:11 Be distressed, ⁴⁵  farmers;

wail, vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley.

For the harvest of the field has perished.

1:12 The vine has dried up;

the fig tree languishes –

the pomegranate, date, and apple ⁴⁶  as well.

In fact, ⁴⁷  all the trees of the field have dried up.

Indeed, the joy of the people ⁴⁸  has dried up!

1:13 Get dressed ⁴⁹  and lament, you priests!

Wail, you who minister at the altar!

Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God,

because no one brings grain offerings or drink offerings

to the temple of your God anymore. ⁵⁰ 

Amos 4:6-9

4:6 “But surely I gave ⁵¹  you no food to eat in any of your cities;

you lacked food everywhere you live. ⁵² 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

4:7 “I withheld rain from you three months before the harvest. ⁵³ 

I gave rain to one city, but not to another.

One field ⁵⁴  would get rain, but the field that received no rain dried up.

4:8 People from ⁵⁵  two or three cities staggered into one city to get ⁵⁶  water,

but remained thirsty. ⁵⁷ 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

4:9 “I destroyed your crops ⁵⁸  with blight and disease.

Locusts kept ⁵⁹  devouring your orchards, ⁶⁰  vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 4:5-11

4:5 Burn a thank offering of bread made with yeast! ⁶¹ 

Make a public display of your voluntary offerings! ⁶² 

For you love to do this, you Israelites.”

The sovereign Lord is speaking!

4:6 “But surely I gave ⁶³  you no food to eat in any of your cities;

you lacked food everywhere you live. ⁶⁴ 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

4:7 “I withheld rain from you three months before the harvest. ⁶⁵ 

I gave rain to one city, but not to another.

One field ⁶⁶  would get rain, but the field that received no rain dried up.

4:8 People from ⁶⁷  two or three cities staggered into one city to get ⁶⁸  water,

but remained thirsty. ⁶⁹ 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

4:9 “I destroyed your crops ⁷⁰  with blight and disease.

Locusts kept ⁷¹  devouring your orchards, ⁷²  vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

4:10 “I sent against you a plague like one of the Egyptian plagues. ⁷³ 

I killed your young men with the sword,

along with the horses you had captured.

I made the stench from the corpses ⁷⁴  rise up into your nostrils.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

4:11 “I overthrew some of you the way God ⁷⁵  overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. ⁷⁶ 

You were like a burning stick ⁷⁷  snatched from the flames.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Micah 6:13-16

6:13 I will strike you brutally ⁷⁸ 

and destroy you because of your sin.

6:14 You will eat, but not be satisfied.

Even if you have the strength ⁷⁹  to overtake some prey, ⁸⁰ 

you will not be able to carry it away; ⁸¹ 

if you do happen to carry away something,

I will deliver it over to the sword.

6:15 You will plant crops, but will not harvest them;

you will squeeze oil from the olives, ⁸²  but you will have no oil to rub on your bodies; ⁸³ 

you will squeeze juice from the grapes, but you will have no wine to drink. ⁸⁴ 

6:16 You implement the regulations of Omri,

and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty; ⁸⁵ 

you follow their policies. ⁸⁶ 

Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, ⁸⁷ 

the city’s ⁸⁸  inhabitants will be taunted derisively, ⁸⁹ 

and nations will mock all of you.” ⁹⁰ 

Haggai 1:9

1:9 ‘You expected a large harvest, but instead ⁹¹  there was little, and when you brought it home it disappeared right away. ⁹²  Why?’ asks the Lord who rules over all. ‘Because my temple remains in ruins, thanks to each of you favoring his own house! ⁹³ 

Haggai 2:16

2:16 From that time ⁹⁴  when one came expecting a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty measures from it, there were only twenty.

[2:9]  ¹ tn Heb “I will return and I will take.” The two verbs joined with vav conjunction form a verbal hendiadys in which the first verb functions adverbially and the second retains its full verbal sense (GKC 386-87 §120.d, h): אָשׁוּב וְלָקַחְתִּי (’ashuv vÿlaqakhti) means “I will take back.”

[2:9]  ² tn Heb “in its time” (so NAB, NRSV).

[2:9]  ³ tn Heb “in its season” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:9]  ⁴ tn The words “which I had provided” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; cf. NIV “intended to cover.”

[2:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “to cover her nakedness” (so KJV and many other English versions); TEV “for clothing.”

[2:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “my wages.” The words “for prostitution” are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied for clarity; cf. CEV “gave…as payment for sex.”

[2:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “I will turn them”; the referents (vines and fig trees) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “the beasts of the field” (so KJV, NASB); the same expression also occurs in v. 18).

[24:7]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “all the joyful in heart,” but the context specifies the context as parties and drinking bouts.

[24:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the joy” (again later in this verse).

[24:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “with a song they do not drink wine.”

[24:10]  ¹² tn Heb “the city of chaos” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). Isaiah uses the term תֹּהוּ (tohu) rather frequently of things (like idols) that are empty and worthless (see BDB 1062 s.v.), so the word might characterize the city as rebellious or morally worthless. However, in this context, which focuses on the effects of divine judgment, it probably refers to the ruined or worthless condition in which the city is left (note the use of the word in Isa 34:11). For a discussion of the identity of this city, see R. Chisholm, “The ‘Everlasting Covenant’ and the ‘City of Chaos’: Intentional Ambiguity and Irony in Isaiah 24,” CTR 6 (1993): 237-53. In the context of universal judgment depicted in Isa 24, this city represents all the nations and cities of the world which, like Babylon of old and the powers/cities mentioned in chapters 13-23, rebel against God’s authority. Behind the stereotypical language one can detect various specific manifestations of this symbolic and paradigmatic city, including Babylon, Moab, and Jerusalem, all of which are alluded or referred to in chapters 24-27.

[24:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “every house is closed up from entering.”

[24:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[there is] an outcry over the wine in the streets.”

[24:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “all joy turns to evening,” the darkness of evening symbolizing distress and sorrow.

[24:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the joy of the earth disappears.”

[24:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and there is left in the city desolation.”

[24:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and [into] rubble the gate is crushed.”

[1:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “sons.” This word occurs several times in this verse.

[1:3]  ²⁰ sn The circumstances that precipitated the book of Joel surrounded a locust invasion in Palestine that was of unprecedented proportions. The locusts had devastated the country’s agrarian economy, with the unwelcome consequences extending to every important aspect of commercial, religious, and national life. To further complicate matters, a severe drought had exhausted water supplies, causing life-threatening shortages for animal and human life (cf. v. 20). Locust invasions occasionally present significant problems in Palestine in modern times. The year 1865 was commonly known among Arabic-speaking peoples of the Near East as sent el jarad, “year of the locust.” The years 1892, 1899, and 1904 witnessed significant locust invasions in Palestine. But in modern times there has been nothing equal in magnitude to the great locust invasion that began in Palestine in February of 1915. This modern parallel provides valuable insight into the locust plague the prophet Joel points to as a foreshadowing of the day of the Lord. For an eyewitness account of the 1915 locust invasion of Palestine see J. D. Whiting, “Jerusalem’s Locust Plague,” National Geographic 28 (December 1915): 511-50.

[1:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “eaten.” This verb is repeated three times in v. 4 to emphasize the total devastation of the crops by this locust invasion.

[1:4]  ²² tn The four Hebrew terms used in this verse are of uncertain meaning. English translations show a great deal of variation in dealing with these: (1) For ָגּזָם (gazam) KJV has “palmerworm,” NEB “locust,” NAB “cutter”, NASB “gnawing locust,” NIV “locust swarm,” NKJV “chewing locust,” NRSV, NLT “cutting locust(s),” NIrV “giant locusts”; (2) for אַרְבֶּה (’arbeh) KJV has “locust,” NEB “swarm,” NAB “locust swarm,” NASB, NKJV, NRSV, NLT “swarming locust(s),” NIV “great locusts,” NIrV “common locusts”; (3) for יֶלֶק (yeleq) KJV has “cankerworm,” NEB “hopper,” NAB “grasshopper,” NASB “creeping locust,” NIV, NIrV “young locusts,” NKJV “crawling locust,” NRSV, NLT “hopping locust(s)”; (4) for חָסִיל (khasil) KJV has “caterpillar,” NEB “grub,” NAB “devourer,” NASB, NLT “stripping locust(s),” NIV, NIrV “other locusts,” NKJV “consuming locust,” NRSV “destroying locust.” It is debated whether the Hebrew terms describe different species of locusts or similar insects or different developmental stages of the same species, or are virtual synonyms. While the last seems more likely, given the uncertainty over their exact meaning, the present translation has transliterated the Hebrew terms in combination with the word “locust.”

[1:5]  ²³ sn The word drunkards has a double edge here. Those accustomed to drinking too much must now lament the unavailability of wine. It also may hint that the people in general have become religiously inebriated and are unresponsive to the Lord. They are, as it were, drunkards from a spiritual standpoint.

[1:5]  ²⁴ sn Joel addresses the first of three groups particularly affected by the locust plague. In v. 5 he describes the effects on the drunkards, who no longer have a ready supply of intoxicating wine; in vv. 11-12 he describes the effects on the farmers, who have watched their labors come to naught because of the insect infestation; and in vv. 13-14 he describes the effects on the priests, who are no longer able to offer grain sacrifices and libations in the temple.

[1:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “over the sweet wine, because it.” Cf. KJV, NIV, TEV, NLT “new wine.”

[1:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “cut off” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV); NAB “will be withheld.”

[1:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “your mouth.” This is a synecdoche of part (the mouth) for whole (the person).

[1:6]  ²⁸ sn As becomes increasingly clear in what follows, this nation is to be understood figuratively. It refers to the locust invasion as viewed from the standpoint of its methodical, destructive advance across the land (BDB 156 s.v. גּוֹי 2). This term is used figuratively to refer to animals one other time (Zeph 2:14).

[1:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “has come up against.”

[1:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “my.”

[1:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “[It] is huge and there is not number.”

[1:6]  ³² tn Heb “its teeth are the teeth of a lion.”

[1:6]  ³³ tn Heb “its incisors are those of a lioness.” The sharp, cutting teeth are metonymical for the action of tearing apart and eating prey. The language is clearly hyperbolic. Neither locusts nor human invaders literally have teeth of this size. The prophet is using exaggerated and picturesque language to portray in vivid terms the enormity of the calamity. English versions vary greatly on the specifics: KJV “cheek teeth”; ASV “jaw-teeth”; NAB “molars”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “fangs.”

[1:7]  ³⁴ tn Heb “it.” Throughout vv. 6-7 the Hebrew uses singular forms to describe the locust swarm, but the translation uses plural forms because several details of the text make more sense in English as if they are describing the appearance and effects of individual locusts.

[1:7]  ³⁵ tn Heb “my.”

[1:7]  ³⁶ tn Both “vines” and “fig trees” are singular in the Hebrew text, but are regarded as collective singulars.

[1:7]  ³⁷ tn Heb “my.”

[1:7]  ³⁸ tn Heb “it has completely stripped her.”

[1:7]  ³⁹ tn Heb “her.”

[1:7]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “grow white.”

[1:9]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “house.” So also in vv. 13, 14, 16.

[1:9]  ⁴² tn Heb “grain offering and drink offering are cut off from the house of the Lord,”

[1:10]  ⁴³ tn Heb “the field has been utterly destroyed.” The term “field,” a collective singular for “fields,” is a metonymy for crops produced by the fields.

[1:10]  ⁴⁴ tn Joel uses intentionally alliterative language in the phrases שֻׁדַּד שָׂדֶה (shuddad sadeh, “the field is destroyed”) and אֲבְלָה אֲדָמָה (’avlah ’adamah, “the ground is in mourning”).

[1:11]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “embarrassed”; or “be ashamed.”

[1:12]  ⁴⁶ tn This Hebrew word וְתַפּוּחַ (vÿtappuakh) probably refers to the apple tree (so most English versions), but other suggestions that scholars have offered include the apricot, citron, or quince.

[1:12]  ⁴⁷ tn These words are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:12]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “the sons of man.”

[1:13]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “put on.” There is no object present in the Hebrew text, but many translations assume “sackcloth” to be the understood object of the verb “put on.” Its absence in the Hebrew text of v. 13 is probably due to metrical considerations. The meter here is 3 + 3, and that has probably influenced the prophet’s choice of words.

[1:13]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “for grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.”

[4:6]  ⁵¹ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic (pronoun + verb). It underscores the stark contrast between the judgments that the Lord had been sending with the God of blessing Israel was celebrating in its worship (4:4-5).

[4:6]  ⁵² tn Heb “But I gave to you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of food in all your places.” The phrase “cleanness of teeth” is a vivid way of picturing the famine Israel experienced.

[4:7]  ⁵³ sn Rain…three months before the harvest refers to the rains of late March-early April.

[4:7]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “portion”; KJV, ASV “piece”; NASB “part.” The same word occurs a second time later in this verse.

[4:8]  ⁵⁵ tn The words “people from” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:8]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “to drink.”

[4:8]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “were not satisfied.”

[4:9]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “you.” By metonymy the crops belonging to these people are meant. See the remainder of this verse, which describes the agricultural devastation caused by locusts.

[4:9]  ⁵⁹ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct is taken adverbially (“kept”) and connected to the activity of the locusts (NJPS). It also could be taken with the preceding sentence and related to the Lord’s interventions (“I kept destroying,” cf. NEB, NJB, NIV, NRSV), or it could be understood substantivally in construct with the following nouns (“Locusts devoured your many orchards,” cf. NASB; cf. also KJV, NKJV).

[4:9]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “gardens.”

[4:5]  ⁶¹ sn For the background of the thank offering of bread made with yeast, see Lev 7:13.

[4:5]  ⁶² tn Heb “proclaim voluntary offerings, announce.”

[4:6]  ⁶³ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic (pronoun + verb). It underscores the stark contrast between the judgments that the Lord had been sending with the God of blessing Israel was celebrating in its worship (4:4-5).

[4:6]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “But I gave to you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of food in all your places.” The phrase “cleanness of teeth” is a vivid way of picturing the famine Israel experienced.

[4:7]  ⁶⁵ sn Rain…three months before the harvest refers to the rains of late March-early April.

[4:7]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “portion”; KJV, ASV “piece”; NASB “part.” The same word occurs a second time later in this verse.

[4:8]  ⁶⁷ tn The words “people from” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:8]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “to drink.”

[4:8]  ⁶⁹ tn Or “were not satisfied.”

[4:9]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “you.” By metonymy the crops belonging to these people are meant. See the remainder of this verse, which describes the agricultural devastation caused by locusts.

[4:9]  ⁷¹ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct is taken adverbially (“kept”) and connected to the activity of the locusts (NJPS). It also could be taken with the preceding sentence and related to the Lord’s interventions (“I kept destroying,” cf. NEB, NJB, NIV, NRSV), or it could be understood substantivally in construct with the following nouns (“Locusts devoured your many orchards,” cf. NASB; cf. also KJV, NKJV).

[4:9]  ⁷² tn Or “gardens.”

[4:10]  ⁷³ tn Heb “in the manner [or “way”] of Egypt.”

[4:10]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “of your camps [or “armies”].”

[4:11]  ⁷⁵ tn Several English versions substitute the first person pronoun (“I”) here for stylistic reasons (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[4:11]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “like God’s overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah.” The divine name may be used in an idiomatic superlative sense here, in which case one might translate, “like the great [or “disastrous”] overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah.”

[4:11]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “like that which is burning.”

[6:13]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “and also I, I will make you sick, striking you.”

[6:14]  ⁷⁹ tc The first Hebrew term in the line (וְיֶשְׁחֲךָ, vÿyeshkhakha) is obscure. HALOT 446 s.v. יֶשַׁח understands a noun meaning “filth,” which would yield the translation, “and your filth is inside you.” The translation assumes an emendation to כֹּחַ-וְיֶשׁ (vÿyesh-koakh, “and [if] there is strength inside you”).

[6:14]  ⁸⁰ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term וְתַסֵּג (vÿtasseg) is unclear. The translation assumes it is a Hiphal imperfect from נָסַג/נָשַׂג (nasag/nasag, “reach; overtake”) and that hunting imagery is employed. (Note the reference to hunger in the first line of the verse.) See D. R. Hillers, Micah (Hermeneia), 80.

[6:14]  ⁸¹ tn The Hiphal of פָּלַט (palat) is used in Isa 5:29 of an animal carrying its prey to a secure place.

[6:15]  ⁸² tn Heb “you will tread olives.” Literally treading on olives with one’s feet could be harmful and would not supply the necessary pressure to release the oil. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 119. The Hebrew term דָּרַךְ (darakh) may have an idiomatic sense of “press” here, or perhaps the imagery of the following parallel line (referring to treading grapes) has dictated the word choice.

[6:15]  ⁸³ tn Heb “but you will not rub yourselves with oil.”

[6:15]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “and juice, but you will not drink wine.” The verb תִדְרֹךְ (tidrokh, “you will tread”) must be supplied from the preceding line.

[6:16]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “the edicts of Omri are kept, and all the deeds of the house of Ahab.”

[6:16]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “and you walk in their plans.”

[6:16]  ⁸⁷ tn The Hebrew term שַׁמָּה (shammah) can refer to “destruction; ruin,” or to the reaction it produces in those who witness the destruction.

[6:16]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “her”; the referent (the city) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:16]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “[an object] of hissing,” which was a way of taunting someone.

[6:16]  ⁹⁰ tc The translation assumes an emendation of the MT’s עַמִּי (’ammi, “my people”) to עַמִּים (’ammim, “nations”).

[1:9]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “look!” (הִנֵּה, hinneh). The term, an interjection, draws attention to the point being made.

[1:9]  ⁹² tn Heb “I blew it away” (so NRSV, TEV, NLT). The imagery here suggests that human achievements are so fragile and temporal that a mere breath from God can destroy them (see Ezek 22:20, 21; and Isa 40:7 with נָשַׁב, nashav).

[1:9]  ⁹³ tn Heb “and each of you runs to his own house”; NIV “is busy with”; TEV “is busy working on”; NCV “work hard for.”

[2:16]  ⁹⁴ tn Heb “from their being,” idiomatic for “from the time they were then,” or “since the time.” Cf. KJV “Since those days were.”