The Army of Locusts

¹Blow the ram’s horn in Zion;sound the alarm on My holy mountain!Let all who dwell in the land tremble,for the Day of the LORD is coming;indeed, it is near—

²a day of darkness and gloom,a day of clouds and blackness.Like the dawn overspreading the mountainsa great and strong army appears,such as never was of old,nor will ever be in ages to come.

³Before them a fire devours,and behind them a flame scorches.The land before them is like the Garden of Eden,but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland—surely nothing will escape them.

⁴Their appearance is like that of horses,and they gallop like swift steeds.

⁵With a sound like that of chariotsthey bound over the mountaintops,like the crackling of fire consuming stubble,like a mighty army deployed for battle.

⁶Nations writhe in horror before them;every face turns pale.

⁷They charge like mighty men;they scale the walls like men of war.Each one marches in formation,not swerving from the course.

⁸They do not jostle one another;each proceeds in his path.They burst through the defenses,never breaking ranks.

⁹They storm the city;they run along the wall;they climb into houses,entering through windows like thieves.

¹⁰Before them the earth quakes;the heavens tremble.The sun and moon grow dark,and the stars lose their brightness.

¹¹The LORD raises His voicein the presence of His army.Indeed, His camp is very large,for mighty are those who obey His command.For the Day of the LORD is great and very dreadful.Who can endure it?

Return with All Your Heart

¹²“Yet even now,”declares the LORD,“return to Me with all your heart,with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”

¹³So rend your hearts and not your garments,and return to the LORD your God.For He is gracious and compassionate,slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.And He relents from sending disaster.

¹⁴Who knows? He may turn and relentand leave a blessing behind Him—grain and drink offeringsfor the LORD your God.

¹⁵Blow the ram’s horn in Zion,consecrate a fast,proclaim a sacred assembly.

¹⁶Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,assemble the aged, gather the children,even those nursing at the breast.Let the bridegroom leave his room,and the bride her chamber.

¹⁷Let the priests who minister before the LORDweep between the portico and the altar,saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD,and do not make Your heritage a reproach,an object of scorn among the nations.Why should they say among the peoples,‘Where is their God?’”

Restoration Promised

¹⁸Then the LORD became jealous for His land,and He spared His people.

¹⁹And the LORD answered His people:“Behold, I will send yougrain, new wine, and oil,and by them you will be satisfied.I will never again make youa reproach among the nations.

²⁰The northern army I will drive away from you,banishing it to a barren and desolate land,its front ranks into the Eastern Sea,and its rear guard into the Western Sea.And its stench will rise;its foul odor will ascend.For He has done great things.

²¹Do not be afraid, O land;rejoice and be glad,for the LORD has done great things.

²²Do not be afraid, O beasts of the field,for the open pastures have turned green,the trees bear their fruit,and the fig tree and vine yield their best.

²³Be glad, O children of Zion,and rejoice in the LORD your God,for He has given you the autumn rainsfor your vindication.He sends you showers,both autumn and spring rains, as before.

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

²⁵I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—the swarming locust, the young locust,the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—My great army that I sent against you.

²⁶You will have plenty to eat,until you are satisfied.You will praise the name of the LORD your God,who has worked wonders for you.My people will never againbe put to shame.

²⁷Then you will know that I am present in Israeland that I am the LORD your God,and there is no other.My people will never againbe put to shame.

I Will Pour Out My Spirit

²⁸And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people.Your sons and daughters will prophesy,your old men will dream dreams,your young men will see visions.

²⁹Even on My menservants and maidservants,I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

³⁰I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth,blood and fire and columnsof smoke.

³¹The sun will be turned to darknessand the moon to bloodbefore the coming of the great and awesomeDay of the LORD.

³²And everyone who calls on the name of the LORDwill be saved;for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalemthere will be deliverance, as the LORD has promised,among the remnant called by the LORD.

Habakkuk’s First Complaint

¹This is the burden that Habakkuk the prophet received in a vision:

²How long, O LORD, must I call for helpbut You do not hear,or cry out to You, “Violence!”but You do not save?

³Why do You make me see iniquity?Why do You tolerate wrongdoing?Destruction and violence are before me.Strife is ongoing, and conflict abounds.

⁴Therefore the law is paralyzed,and justice never goes forth.For the wicked hem in the righteous,so that justice is perverted.

The LORD’s Answer

⁵“Look at the nations and observe—be utterly astounded!For I am doing a work in your daysthat you would never believeeven if someone told you.

⁶For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans—that ruthless and impetuous nationwhich marches through the breadth of the earthto seize dwellings not their own.

⁷They are dreaded and feared;from themselves they derive justice and sovereignty.

⁸Their horses are swifter than leopards,fiercer than wolves of the night.Their horsemen charge ahead,and their cavalry comes from afar.They fly like a vulture,swooping down to devour.

⁹All of them come bent on violence;their hordes advance like the east wind;they gather prisoners like sand.

¹⁰They scoff at kingsand make rulers an object of scorn.They laugh at every fortressand build up siege ramps to seize it.

¹¹Then they sweep by like the windand pass through.They are guilty;their own strength is their god.”

Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

¹²Are You not from everlasting,O LORD, my God, my Holy One?We will not die.O LORD, You have appointed themto execute judgment;O Rock, You have established themfor correction.

¹³Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil,and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.So why do You tolerate the faithless?Why are You silentwhile the wicked swallow upthose more righteous than themselves?

¹⁴You have made men like the fish of the sea,like creeping things that have no ruler.

¹⁵The foe pulls all of them upwith a hook;he catches them in his dragnet,and gathers them in his fishing net;so he rejoices gladly.

¹⁶Therefore he sacrifices to his dragnetand burns incense to his fishing net,for by these things his portion is sumptuousand his food is rich.

¹⁷Will he, therefore, empty his netand continue to slay nations without mercy?

Mourning Turned to Joy

¹“At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be My people.”

²This is what the LORD says:“The people who survived the swordfound favor in the wildernesswhen Israel went to find rest.”

³The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying:“I have loved you with an everlasting love;therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion.

⁴Again I will build you, and you will be rebuilt,O Virgin Israel.Again you will take up your tambourinesand go out in joyful dancing.

⁵Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria;the farmers will plant and enjoy the fruit.

⁶For there will be a day when watchmen will call outon the hills of Ephraim,‘Arise, let us go up to Zion,to the LORD our God!’”

⁷For this is what the LORD says:“Sing with joy for Jacob;shout for the foremost of the nations!Make your praises heard, and say,‘O LORD, save Your people,the remnant of Israel!’

⁸Behold, I will bring them from the land of the northand gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,including the blind and the lame,expectant mothers and women in labor.They will return as a great assembly!

⁹They will come with weeping,and by their supplication I will lead them;I will make them walk beside streams of waters,on a level path where they will not stumble.For I am Israel’s Father,and Ephraim is My firstborn.”

¹⁰Hear, O nations, the word of the LORD,and proclaim it in distant coastlands:“The One who scattered Israel will gather them and keep themas a shepherd keeps his flock.

¹¹For the LORD has ransomed Jacoband redeemed him from the hand that had overpowered him.

¹²They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion;they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—the grain, new wine, and oil,and the young of the flocks and herds.Their life will be like a well-watered garden,and never again will they languish.

¹³Then the maidens will rejoice with dancing,young men and old as well.I will turn their mourning into joy,and give them comfort and joy for their sorrow.

¹⁴I will fill the souls of the priests abundantly,and will fill My people with My goodness,”declares the LORD.

¹⁵This is what the LORD says:“A voice is heard in Ramah,mourning and great weeping,Rachel weeping for her childrenand refusing to be comforted,because they are no more.”

¹⁶This is what the LORD says:“Keep your voice from weepingand your eyes from tears,for the reward for your work will come,declares the LORD.Then your children will returnfrom the land of the enemy.

¹⁷So there is hope for your future,declares the LORD,and your children will returnto their own land.

¹⁸I have surely heard Ephraim’smoaning:‘You disciplined me severely,like an untrained calf.Restore me, that I may return,for You are the LORD my God.

¹⁹After I returned, I repented;and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief.I was ashamed and humiliatedbecause I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

²⁰Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me,a delightful child?Though I often speak against him,I still remember him.Therefore My heart yearns for him;I have great compassion for him,”declares the LORD.

²¹“Set up the road markers,put up the signposts.Keep the highway in mind,the road you have traveled.Return, O Virgin Israel,return to these cities of yours.

²²How long will you wander,O faithless daughter?For the LORD has created a new thing in the land—a woman will sheltera man.”

²³This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “When I restore them from captivity,they will once again speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities: ‘May the LORD bless you, O righteous dwelling place, O holy mountain.’

²⁴And Judah and all its cities will dwell together in the land, the farmers and those who move with the flocks,

²⁵for I will refresh the weary soul and replenish all who are weak.”

The New Covenant

²⁶At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me.

²⁷“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and of beast.

²⁸Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to demolish, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD.

²⁹“In those days, it will no longer be said:‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,and the teeth of the children are set on edge.’

³⁰Instead, each will die for his own iniquity. If anyone eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will be set on edge.

³¹Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD,when I will make a new covenantwith the house of Israeland with the house of Judah.

³²It will not be like the covenantI made with their fatherswhen I took them by the handto lead them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke,though I was a husband to them,”declares the LORD.

³³“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israelafter those days, declares the LORD.I will put My law in their mindsand inscribe it on their hearts.And I will be their God,and they will be My people.

³⁴No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother,saying, ‘Know the LORD,’because they will all know Me,from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD.For I will forgive their iniquitiesand will remember their sins no more.”

³⁵Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day, who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of Hosts is His name:

³⁶“Only if this fixed order departed from My presence,declares the LORD,would Israel’s descendants ever ceaseto be a nation before Me.”

³⁷This is what the LORD says:“Only if the heavens above could be measuredand the foundations of the earth below searched outwould I reject all of Israel’s descendantsbecause of all they have done,”declares the LORD.

³⁸“The days are coming,”declares the LORD, “when this city will be rebuilt for Me, from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.

³⁹The measuring line will once again stretch out straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn toward Goah.

⁴⁰The whole valley of the dead bodies and ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east, will be holy to the LORD. It will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

Deliver Me, O LORD!

¹O LORD, how my foes have increased!How many rise up against me!

²Many say of me,“God will not deliver him.”Selah

³But You, O LORD, are a shield around me,my glory, and the One who lifts my head.

⁴To the LORD I cry aloud,and He answers me from His holy mountain.Selah

⁵I lie down and sleep;I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.

⁶I will not fear the myriadsset against me on every side.

⁷Arise, O LORD!Save me, O my God!Strike all my enemies on the jaw;break the teeth of the wicked.

⁸Salvation belongs to the LORD;may Your blessing be on Your people.Selah