Study Desk

Gird up and lament, priests. Howl, ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, ministers of my God. For the food offering and the drink offering are held back from the house of your God.

Set apart a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the elders, all those living in the land, into the house of Jehovah your God, and cry to Jehovah.

Alas for the day! For the day of Jehovah is at hand. And it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

The seed shrivels under their clods; the storage bins are laid waste, the granaries are broken down, for the grain has dried up.

How the beasts groan! The herds of livestock are vexed, for there is no pasture for them. Even the flocks of sheep are perishing.

O Jehovah, to You I will cry, for the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and has consumed all the trees of the field.

The beasts of the field also long for You, for the rivers of water are dried up, and the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.