Friday in Season after Pentecost

1Verse 1. Blow the ram’s horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; indeed, it is near— 2Verse 2. a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like the dawn overspreading the mountains a great and strong army appears, such as never was of old, nor will ever be in ages to come. 3Verse 3. Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland — surely nothing will escape them. 4Verse 4. Their appearance is like that of horses, and they gallop like swift steeds. 5Verse 5. With a sound like that of chariots they bound over the mountaintops, like the crackling of fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army deployed for battle. 6Verse 6. Nations writhe in horror before them; every face turns pale. 7Verse 7. They charge like mighty men; they scale the walls like men of war. Each one marches in formation, not swerving from the course. 8Verse 8. They do not jostle one another; each proceeds in his path. They burst through the defenses, never breaking ranks. 9Verse 9. They storm the city; they run along the wall; they climb into houses, entering through windows like thieves. 10Verse 10. Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness. 11Verse 11. The LORD raises His voice in the presence of His army. Indeed, His camp is very large, for mighty are those who obey His command. For the Day of the LORD is great and very dreadful. Who can endure it?

17Verse 17. This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them. 18Verse 18. Let them come quickly and take up a lament over us, that our eyes may overflow with tears, and our eyelids may gush with water. 19Verse 19. For the sound of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How devastated we are! How great is our shame! For we have abandoned the land because our dwellings have been torn down.’” 20Verse 20. Now, O women, hear the word of the LORD. Open your ears to the word of His mouth. Teach your daughters to wail, and one another to lament. 21Verse 21. For death has climbed in through our windows; it has entered our fortresses to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the town squares. 22Verse 22. Declare that this is what the LORD says: “The corpses of men will fall like dung upon the open field, like newly cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather it.” 23Verse 23. This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches. 24Verse 24. But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth — for I delight in these things,” 25Verse 25. “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh— 26Verse 26. Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”