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 chastisements of thy word.
Thou dost cleave the earth with rivers;

The mountains see thee and are afraid;
The tempest of waters passeth 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 God 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.

208

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;