Day 349 of 730

¹Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord comes, for it is close at hand:

²A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn spreading on the mountains, a great and strong people; there has never been the like, neither will there be any more after them, even to the years of many generations.

³A fire devours before them, and behind them, a flame burns. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them, a desolate wilderness. Yes, and no one has escaped them.

⁴The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses, and as horsemen, so do they run.

⁵Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.

⁶At their presence the peoples are in anguish. All faces have grown pale.

⁷They run like mighty men. They climb the wall like warriors. They each march in his line, and they do not swerve off course.

⁸Neither does one jostle another; they march everyone in his path, and they burst through the defenses, and do not break ranks.

⁹They rush on the city. They run on the wall. They climb up into the houses. They enter in at the windows like thieves.

¹⁰The earth quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.

¹¹The Lord thunders his voice before his army; for his forces are very great; for he is strong who obeys his command; for the day of the Lord is great and very awesome, and who can endure it?

¹²"Yet even now," says the Lord, "turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning."

¹³Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.

¹⁴Who knows? He may turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meal offering and a drink offering to the Lord, your God.

¹⁵Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly.

¹⁶Gather the people. Sanctify the assembly. Assemble the elders. Gather the children, and those who suck the breasts. Let the bridegroom go forth from his room, and the bride out of her chamber.

¹⁷Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, "Spare your people, Lord, and do not give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"

¹⁸Then the Lord was jealous for his land, And had pity on his people.

¹⁹The Lord answered his people, "Behold, I will send you grain, new wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied with them; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.

²⁰But I will remove the northern army far away from you, and will drive it into a barren and desolate land, its front into the eastern sea, and its back into the western sea; and its stench will come up, and its bad smell will rise." Surely he has done great things.

²¹Land, do not be afraid. Be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things.

²²Do not be afraid, you animals of the field; for the pastures of the wilderness spring up, for the tree bears its fruit. The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.

²³"Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord, your God; for he gives you the former rain in just measure, and he causes the rain to come down for you, the former rain and the latter rain, as before.

²⁴The threshing floors will be full of wheat, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

²⁵I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, my great army, which I sent among you.

²⁶You will have plenty to eat, and be satisfied, and will praise the name of the Lord, your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and my people will never again be disappointed.

²⁷You will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord, your God, and there is no one else; and my people will never again be disappointed.

²⁸"It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions.

²⁹And also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days, I will pour out my Spirit.

³⁰I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke.

³¹The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.

³²It will happen that whoever will call on the name of the Lord shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the remnant, those whom the Lord calls.

¹"For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

²I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will execute judgment on them there for my people, and for my heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have divided my land,

³and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a prostitute, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.

⁴"Yes, and what are you to me, Tyre, and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Will you repay me? And if you repay me, I will swiftly and speedily return your repayment on your own head.

⁵Because you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my finest treasures into your temples,

⁶and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their border.

⁷Behold, I will stir them up out of the place where you have sold them, and will return your repayment on your own head;

⁸and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the men of Sheba, to a faraway nation, for the Lord has spoken it."

⁹Proclaim this among the nations: "Prepare for war! Stir up the mighty men. Let all the warriors draw near. Let them come up.

¹⁰Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, 'I am strong.'

¹¹Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves together." Cause your mighty ones to come down there, Lord.

¹²"Let the nations arouse themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the surrounding nations.

¹³Put in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the winepress is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great."

¹⁴Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near, in the valley of decision.

¹⁵The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.

¹⁶The Lord will roar from Zion, and thunder from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth will shake; but the Lord will be a refuge to his people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel.

¹⁷"So you will know that I am the Lord, your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, and no strangers will pass through her any more.

¹⁸It will happen in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters, and a fountain will come forth from the house of the Lord, and will water the valley of Shittim.

¹⁹Egypt will be a desolation, and Edom will be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

²⁰But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

²¹I will cleanse their blood, that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwells in Zion."

¹Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world,

²both low and high, rich and poor together.

³My mouth will speak words of wisdom. My heart shall utter understanding.

⁴I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will open my riddle on the harp.

⁵Why should I fear in the days of evil, when iniquity at my heels surrounds me?

⁶Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches-

⁷none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him.

⁸For the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough,

⁹That he should live on forever, that he should not see corruption.

¹⁰For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others.

¹¹Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves.

¹²But man, despite his riches, doesn't endure. He is like the animals that perish.

¹³This is the destiny of those who are foolish, and of those who approve their sayings. Selah.

¹⁴They are appointed as a flock for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd. The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. Their beauty shall decay in Sheol, far from their mansion.

¹⁵But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah.

¹⁶Do not be afraid when a man is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased.

¹⁷For when he dies he shall carry nothing away. His glory shall not descend after him.

¹⁸Though while he lived he blessed his soul- and men praise you when you do well for yourself-

¹⁹he shall go to the generation of his fathers. They shall never see the light.

²⁰A man who has riches without understanding, is like the animals that perish.

¹Doesn't wisdom cry out? Doesn't understanding raise her voice?

²On the top of high places by the way, where the paths meet, she stands.

³Beside the gates, at the entry of the city, at the entry doors, she cries aloud:

⁴"To you men, I call! I send my voice to the sons of mankind.

⁵You simple, understand prudence. You fools, be of an understanding heart.

⁶Hear, for I will speak excellent things. The opening of my lips is for right things.

⁷For my mouth speaks truth. Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

⁸All the words of my mouth are in righteousness. There is nothing crooked or perverse in them.

⁹They are all plain to him who understands, right to those who find knowledge.

¹⁰Receive my instruction rather than silver; knowledge rather than choice gold.

¹¹For wisdom is better than rubies. All the things that may be desired can't be compared to it.

¹²"I, wisdom, have made prudence my dwelling. Find out knowledge and discretion.

¹³The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. I hate pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth.

¹⁴Counsel and sound knowledge are mine. I have understanding and power.

¹⁵By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.

¹⁶By me princes rule; nobles, and all the righteous rulers of the earth.

¹⁷I love those who love me. Those who seek me diligently will find me.

¹⁸With me are riches, honor, enduring wealth, and prosperity.

¹⁹My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold; my yield than choice silver.

²⁰I walk in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice;

²¹That I may give wealth to those who love me. I fill their treasuries.

²²"The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his work, before his deeds of old.

²³I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, before the earth existed.

²⁴When there were no depths, I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.

²⁵Before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was brought forth;

²⁶while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the beginning of the dust of the world.

²⁷When he established the heavens, I was there; when he set a circle on the surface of the deep,

²⁸when he established the clouds above, when the springs of the deep became strong,

²⁹when he gave to the sea its boundary, that the waters should not violate his commandment, when he marked out the foundations of the earth;

³⁰then I was the craftsman by his side. I was a delight day by day, always rejoicing before him,

³¹Rejoicing in his whole world. My delight was with the sons of men.

³²"Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, for blessed are those who keep my ways.

³³Hear instruction, and be wise. Do not refuse it.

³⁴Blessed is the man who hears me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my door posts.

³⁵For whoever finds me, finds life, and will obtain favor from the Lord.

³⁶But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul. All those who hate me love death."