"Hear this, you elders! Listen, all of you residents of the land! Has there ever been anything like this during your lifetime, or even when your ancestors were alive?

Oh, how the livestock groan! The herds of cattle wander about because they have no pasture. Even flocks of sheep suffer!

A day of doom and gloom, a day of clouds and shadows like the dawn spreads out to cover the mountains a people strong and robust. Never has there been anything like it, neither will anything follow to compare with it, even through the lifetime of generation upon generation."

"The land quivers in their presence; even the heavens shake. The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will stop shining.

"Yet even now," declares the LORD, "Turn back to me with your whole heart, with fasting, tears, and mourning.

Who knows? He will turn back and relent, will he not, leaving behind a blessing, even a grain offering and drink offering for the LORD your God?"

Gather the people! Dedicate the congregation! Bring in the elders. Gather the youngsters and even the nursing infants. Call the bridegroom from his wedding preparations, and the bride from her dressing room.