Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and boundless in loyal love ¹  – often relenting from calamitous punishment. ² 

Citizens of Zion, ¹  rejoice! Be glad because of what the Lord your God has done! ²  For he has given to you the early rains ³  as vindication. He has sent ⁴  to you the rains – both the early and the late rains ⁵  as formerly.

Then the Lord became ¹  zealous for his land; he had compassion on his people.

Who knows? Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve, ¹  and leave blessing in his wake ²  – a meal offering and a drink offering for you to offer to the Lord your God! ³ 

The voice of the Lord thunders ¹  as he leads his army. ²  Indeed, his warriors ³  are innumerable; ⁴  Surely his command is carried out! ⁵  Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome ⁶  and very terrifying – who can survive ⁷  it?

The Lord roars from Zion; from Jerusalem ¹  his voice bellows out. ²  The heavens ³  and the earth shake. But the Lord is a refuge for his people; he is a stronghold for the citizens ⁴  of Israel.

They ¹  have destroyed our ²  vines; ³  they have turned our ⁴  fig trees into mere splinters. They have completely stripped off the bark ⁵  and thrown them aside; the ⁶  twigs are stripped bare. ⁷ 

I will remove the one from the north ¹  far from you. I will drive him out to a dry and desolate place. Those in front will be driven eastward into the Dead Sea, ²  and those in back westward into the Mediterranean Sea. ³  His stench will rise up as a foul smell.” ⁴  Indeed, the Lord ⁵  has accomplished great things.

For a nation ¹  has invaded ²  our ³  land. There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. ⁴  Their teeth are like those ⁵  of a lion; they tear apart their prey like a lioness. ⁶ 

The Lord responded ¹  to his people, “Look! I am about to restore your grain ²  as well as fresh wine and olive oil. You will be fully satisfied. ³  I will never again make you an object of mockery among the nations.

Let the priests, those who serve the Lord, weep from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. ¹  Let them say, “Have pity, O Lord, on your people; please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked, to become a proverb ²  among the nations. Why should it be said ³  among the peoples, “Where is their God?”