Samaria shall bear her guilt; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

REPENTANT ISRAEL

O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and return unto the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and accept that which is good: so will we render as bullocks the offering of our lips. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our Gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

THE LORD

I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and blossom as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

EPHRAIM

What have I to do any more with idols?

Who is wise, and he shall understand these things?
Prudent, and he shall know them?

For the ways of the LORD are right,
And the just shall walk in them:

But transgressors shall fall therein.

74

The Word of the LORD

that came to

JOEL

the son of Pethuel

JOEL

A RHAPSODY OF THE LOCUST PLAGUE

A 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,