Page 1270 - The MacArthur Daily Bible

TN_12_MacArthur_Bible_Dec.qxd 8/8/03 17:33 Page 1251

DECEMBER 12
14 Consecrate a fast,
Call a sacred assembly;
Gather the elders
1:2 Hear…give ear. The gravity of the situa- And all the inhabitants of the land
tion demanded the undivided focus of their Into the house of the LORD your God,
senses, emphasizing the need to make a con- And cry out to the LORD.
scious, purposeful decision in the matter. The 15 Alas for the day!
terminology was commonly used in “lawsuit” For the day of the LORD is at hand;
passages (Is.1:2;Hos.4:1),intimating that Israel It shall come as destruction from the
was found guilty and that the present judg- Almighty.
ment was her “sentence.” elders…all you 16 Is not the food cut off before our eyes,
inhabitants. The former term refers to the Joy and gladness from the house of
civil and religious leaders,who,in light of their
position, were exhorted to lead by example our God?
17 The seed shrivels under the clods,
the entire population toward repentance.
Storehouses are in shambles;
Barns are broken down,
For the grain has withered.
7 He has laid waste My vine, 18
And ruined My fig tree; How the animals groan!
He has stripped it bare and thrown it The herds of cattle are restless,
away; Because they have no pasture;
Its branches are made white. Even the flocks of sheep suffer
punishment.
8 Lament like a virgin girded with
19 O LORD, to You I cry out;
sackcloth
For the husband of her youth. For fire has devoured the open pastures,
9 The grain offering and the drink And a flame has burned all the trees of
offering the field.
20 The beasts of the field also cry out to
Have been cut off from the house of
the LORD; You,
The priests mourn, who minister For the water brooks are dried up,
And fire has devoured the open
to the LORD.
10 The field is wasted, pastures.
The land mourns; 2 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
For the grain is ruined, And sound an alarm in My holy
The new wine is dried up, mountain!
The oil fails. Let all the inhabitants of the land
tremble;
11 Be ashamed, you farmers,
Wail, you vinedressers, For the day of the LORD is coming,
For it is at hand:
For the wheat and the barley; 2 A day of darkness and gloominess,
Because the harvest of the field has
perished. A day of clouds and thick darkness,
12 The vine has dried up, Like the morning clouds spread over
And the fig tree has withered; the mountains.
The pomegranate tree, A people come, great and strong,
The palm tree also, The like of whom has never been;
And the apple tree— Nor will there ever be any such after
All the trees of the field are withered; them,
Surely joy has withered away from the Even for many successive generations.
sons of men. 3 A fire devours before them,
13 Gird yourselves and lament, you priests; And behind them a flame burns;
Wail, you who minister before the altar; The land is like the Garden of Eden
Come, lie all night in sackcloth, before them,
You who minister to my God; And behind them a desolate wilderness;
For the grain offering and the drink Surely nothing shall escape them.
offering 4 Their appearance is like the
Are withheld from the house appearance of horses;
of your God. And like swift steeds, so they run.

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