15 Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem!Announce a time of fasting;call the people togetherfor a solemn meeting.
16 Gather all the people—the elders, the children, and even the babies.Call the bridegroom from his quartersand the bride from her private room.
17 Let the priests, who minister in the lord’s presence,stand and weep between the entry room to the Temple and the altar.Let them pray, “Spare your people, lord!Don’t let your special possession become an object of mockery.Don’t let them become a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say,‘Has the God of Israel left them?’”
18 Then the lord will pity his peopleand jealously guard the honor of his land.
19 The lord will reply,“Look! I am sending you grain and new wine and olive oil,enough to satisfy your needs.You will no longer be an object of mockeryamong the surrounding nations.
20 I will drive away these armies from the north.I will send them into the parched wastelands.Those in the front will be driven into the Dead Sea,and those at the rear into the Mediterranean.The stench of their rotting bodies will rise over the land.”Surely the lord has done great things!
21 Don’t be afraid, O land.Be glad now and rejoice,for the lord has done great things.