Select Masterpieces of Biblical Literature Part 18

Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, And stablisheth a city by iniquity!

Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the peoples labour for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity? For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

4

Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, That addest thy venom thereto, And makest him drunken also, That thou mayest look on their nakedness!

Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and be as one uncirc.u.mcised. The cup of the LORD'S right hand shall be turned unto thee, and foul shame shall be upon thy glory. For the violence done to Lebanon shall cover thee, and the destruction of the beasts which made them afraid; because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city, and to all that dwell therein.

5

What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and the teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?--

Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; To the dumb stone, Arise!

Shall this teach? Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him!

iii

Jehovah come to Judgment

Prelude

O LORD, I have heard the report of thee, and am afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known: In wrath remember mercy!

Strophe

G.o.d cometh from Teman, And the Holy One from Mount Paran.

His glory covereth the heavens, And the earth is full of his praise.

And his brightness is as the light; He hath rays coming forth from his hand; And there is the hiding of his power.

Before him goeth the pestilence, And fiery bolts go forth at his feet.

He standeth and shaketh the earth; He beholdeth, and driveth asunder the nations: And the eternal mountains are scattered, The everlasting hills do bow; His ways are everlasting.

I see the tents of Cushan in affliction; The curtains of the land of Midian do tremble.

Antistrophe

Is the LORD displeased against the rivers?

Is thine anger against the rivers, or thy wrath against the sea, That thou dost ride upon thine horses, Upon thy chariots of salvation?

Thy bow is made quite bare, Sworn are the chastis.e.m.e.nts of thy word.

Thou dost cleave the earth with rivers; The mountains see thee and are afraid; The tempest of waters pa.s.seth by; The deep uttereth his voice, And lifteth up his hands on high; The sun and moon stand still in their habitation At the light of thine arrows as they go, At the shining of thy glittering spear.

Thou dost march through the land in indignation, Thou dost thresh the nations in anger.

Epode

Thou art come for the salvation of thy people, For the salvation of thine anointed: Thou dost smite off the head from the house of the wicked, Laying bare the foundation even unto the neck.

Thou dost pierce with his own staves the head of his warriors: (They came as a whirlwind to scatter me, Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly:) Thou dost tread the sea with thine horses, the surge of mighty waters.

Postlude

I heard, and my belly trembled, My lips quivered at the voice; Rottenness entered 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 G.o.d 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, lie all night in sackcloth, Ye ministers of my G.o.d: For the meal offering and the drink offering Is withholden from the house of your G.o.d!

THE WHOLE PEOPLE

Sanctify a fast, call a solemn a.s.sembly, gather the old men and all the inhabitants of the land unto the house of the LORD your G.o.d, and cry unto the LORD:

Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand!

And as destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, Yea, joy and gladness from the house of our G.o.d?