are withered:
For joy is withered away from the sons of men.

Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly,
Gather the old men
And all the inhabitants of the land
Unto the house of the Lord your God,
And cry unto the Lord.

Alas for the day!
For the day of the Lord is at hand.
And as the destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Is not the food cut off before our eyes,
Yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
The seeds rot under their clods:
The garners are laid desolate,
The barns are broken down;
For the corn is withered.
How do the beasts groan.
The herds of cattle are perplexed,
Because they have no pasture;
Yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

O Lord, to thee do I cry:
For the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness
And the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
Yea, the beasts of the field pant unto thee: {376}
For the water brooks are dried up,
And the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

II

THE WARNING TO THE PEOPLE

Blow ye 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 cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
As the dawn spread upon the mountains;
A great people and a strong.
There hath not ever been the like,
Neither shall there be any more after them,
Even to the years of many generations.
A fire devoureth before them;
And behind them a flame burneth:
The land is as the garden of Eden before them,
And behind them a desolate wilderness;
Yea, and none hath escaped them.
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses;
And as horsemen, so do they run.
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap,
Like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble;
As a strong people set in battle array.
At their presence the peoples are in anguish;
All faces are waxed pale; {377}
They run like mighty men;
They climb upon the wall like men of war;
And they march everyone on his ways.
And they break not their ranks;
They march everyone in his path;
They burst through the weapons of the enemy;
And turn not from their course.
They leap upon the city;
They run upon the walls;
They climb upon the houses;
They enter in at t