"THE PROPHETS"
From the frieze of "The Prophets," by Sargent, in the Boston Public Library.
The prophets here represented are Micah, Haggai, Malachi, and Zechariah.
Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau? And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that everyone may be cut off from the mount of Esau by slaughter. For the violence done to thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. But look not thou on the day of thy brother in the day of his disaster, and rejoice not over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither speak proudly in the day of distress. Enter not into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, look not thou on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither lay ye hands on their substance in the day of their calamity. And stand thou not in the mountain passes, to cut off those of his that escape; and deliver not up those of his that remain in the day of distress. For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; thy dealing shall return upon thine own head. But in mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall burn among them, and devour them, and there shall not be any remaining to the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it.
JOEL
(At some time, we are not told just when, a terrible plague of locusts came upon the land. A prophet, whose name was Joel, took this occasion to tell the people of their sins, and of the judgments which God would bring upon them.)
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I THE PROPHET LAMENTS FOR HIS LAND |
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 cankerworm eaten; And that which the cankerworm hath left Hath the caterpillar eaten. 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, [{375}] 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. Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, Gather the old men And all the inhabitants of the land Unto the house of the Lord your God, And cry unto the Lord. Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is at hand. And as the destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Is not the food cut off before our eyes, Yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? The seeds rot under their clods: The garners are laid desolate, The barns are broken down; For the corn is withered. How do the beasts groan. The herds of cattle are perplexed, Because they have no pasture; Yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. O Lord, to thee do I cry: For the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness And the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. Yea, the beasts of the field pant unto thee: [{376}] For the water brooks are dried up, And the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness. |