ed into my bones, and I trembled in my place:
That I should rest waiting for the day of trouble,
When he that shall invade them in troops cometh up against the people.
For though the fig tree shall not blossom,
Neither shall fruit be in the vines;
The labour of the olive shall fail,
And the fields shall yield no meat;
The flock shall be cut off from the fold,
And there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Jehovah, the Lord, is my strength,
And he maketh my feet like hinds' feet,
And will make me to walk upon mine high places.

JOEL'S RHAPSODY OF THE LOCUST PLAGUE

i

The Land Desolate and Mourning

OLD MEN

Hear this, ye old men,
And give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land!
Hath this been in your days,
Or in the days of your fathers?
Tell ye your children of it,
And let your children tell their children,
And their children another generation.
That which the palmerworm hath left
Hath the locust eaten;
And that which the locust hath left
Hath the cankerworm eaten;
And that which the cankerworm hath left
Hath the caterpillar eaten.

REVELLERS

Awake, ye drunkards, and weep,
And howl, all ye drinkers of wine,
Because of the sweet wine;
For it is cut off from your mouth!
For a nation is come up upon my land,
Strong, and without number;
His teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And he hath the jaw teeth of a great lion.
He hath laid my vine waste,
And barked my fig tree:
He hath made it clean bare, and cast it away;
The branches thereof are made white.

PRIESTS

Lament like a virgin
Girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth!
The meal offering and the drink offering
Is cut off from the house of the LORD:
The priests, the LORD'S ministers, mourn.
The field is wasted,
The land mourneth;
For the corn is wasted,
The new wine is dried up,
The oil languisheth.

HUSBANDMEN

Be ashamed, O ye husbandmen,
Howl, O ye vinedressers,
For the wheat, and for the barley;
For the harvest of the field is perished!
The vine is withered,
And the fig tree languisheth;
The pomegranate tree,
The palm tree also, and the apple tree,
Even all the trees of the field are withered:
For joy is withered away from the sons of men.

PRIESTS

Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests;
Howl, ye ministers of the altar;
Come,