<p class="poetry">Blow the trumpet<n id="1" /> in Zion.p> <p class="poetry">Announce a holy fast;p> <p class="poetry">proclaim a sacred assembly!p>

<p class="poetry">and they cast lots for my people.p> <p class="poetry">They traded<n id="1" /> a boy for a prostitute;p> <p class="poetry">they sold a little girl for wine so they could drink.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">For a nation<n id="1" /> has invaded<n id="2" /> our<n id="3" /> land.p> <p class="poetry">There are so many of them they are too numerous to count.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Their teeth are like those<n id="5" /> of a lion;p> <p class="poetry">they tear apart their prey like a lioness.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">Who knows?p> <p class="poetry">Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and leave blessing in his wake<n id="2" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">a meal offering and a drink offering for you to offer to the <sc>Lordsc> your God!<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Wail<n id="1" /> like a young virgin<n id="2" /> clothed in sackcloth,p> <p class="poetry">lamenting the death of<n id="3" /> her husband-to-be.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">It will be<n id="1" /> a day of dreadful darkness,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">a day of foreboding storm clouds,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">like blackness<n id="4" /> spread over the mountains.p> <p class="poetry">It is a huge and powerful army<n id="5" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">there has never been anything like it ever before,p> <p class="poetry">and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come!<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">Announce a holy fast;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">proclaim a sacred assembly.p> <p class="poetry">Gather the elders and<n id="2" /> all the inhabitants of the landp> <p class="poetry">to the temple of the <sc>Lordsc> your God,p> <p class="poetry">and cry out to the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="poetry">Like fire they devour everything in their path;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">a flame blazes behind them.p> <p class="poetry">The land looks like the Garden of Eden<n id="2" /> before them,p> <p class="poetry">but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">for nothing escapes them!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> roars from Zion;p> <p class="poetry">from Jerusalem<n id="1" /> his voice bellows out.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">The heavens<n id="3" /> and the earth shake.p> <p class="poetry">But the <sc>Lordsc> is a refuge for his people;p> <p class="poetry">he is a stronghold for the citizens<n id="4" /> of Israel.p>

<p class="poetry">They sound like<n id="1" /> chariots rumbling<n id="2" /> over mountain tops,p> <p class="poetry">like the crackling<n id="3" /> of blazing fire consuming stubble,p> <p class="poetry">like the noise of<n id="4" /> a mighty army<n id="5" /> being drawn up for battle.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">Beat your plowshares<n id="1" /> into swords,p> <p class="poetry">and your pruning hooks<n id="2" /> into spears!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Let the weak say, &#8216;I too am a warrior!&#8217;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Egypt will be desolatep> <p class="poetry">and Edom will be a desolate wilderness,p> <p class="poetry">because of the violence they did to the people of Judah,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">in whose land they shed innocent blood.p>

<p class="poetry">They rush into<n id="1" /> the city;p> <p class="poetry">they scale<n id="2" /> its walls.p> <p class="poetry">They climb up into the houses;p> <p class="poetry">they go in through the windows like a thief.p>

<p class="poetry">I will sell your sons and daughters to<n id="1" /> the people of Judah.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They will sell them to the Sabeans,<n id="3" /> a nation far away.p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, the <sc>Lordsc> has spoken!p>

<p class="poetry">I will remove the one from the north<n id="1" /> far from you.p> <p class="poetry">I will drive him out to a dry and desolate place.p> <p class="poetry">Those in front will be driven eastward into the Dead Sea,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and those in back westward into the Mediterranean Sea.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">His stench will rise up as a foul smell.&#8221;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, the <sc>Lordsc><n id="5" /> has accomplished great things.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Proclaim this among the nations:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Prepare for a holy war!p> <p class="poetry">Call out the warriors!p> <p class="poetry">Let all these fighting men approach and attack!<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Let the priests, those who serve the <sc>Lordsc>, weepp> <p class="poetry">from the vestibule all the way back to the altar.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Let them say, &#8220;Have pity, O <sc>Lordsc>, on your people;p> <p class="poetry">please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked,p> <p class="poetry">to become a proverb<n id="2" /> among the nations.p> <p class="poetry">Why should it be said<n id="3" /> among the peoples,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Where is their God?&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">On that day<n id="1" /> the mountains will drip with sweet wine,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and the hills will flow with milk.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">All the dry stream beds<n id="4" /> of Judah will flow with water.p> <p class="poetry">A spring will flow out from the temple<n id="5" /> of the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">watering the Valley of Acacia Trees.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> responded<n id="1" /> to his people,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Look! I am about to restore your grain<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">as well as fresh wine and olive oil.p> <p class="poetry">You will be fully satisfied.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I will never again make you an object of mockery among the nations.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Listen to this, you elders;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">pay attention,<n id="2" /> all inhabitants of the land.p> <p class="poetry">Has anything like this ever happened in your whole life<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">or in the lifetime<n id="4" /> of your ancestors?<n id="5" />p>