Jer 14:1-9, Joe 1:13-20, 2:15-17 | ESV | STEP | The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought :

1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning ^athe drought:

2 ^b“Judah mourns,
and ^cher gates languish;
her people lament on the ground,
and ^dthe cry of Jerusalem goes up.
3 Her nobles send their servants for water;
they come to the cisterns;
they find no water;
they return with their vessels empty;
they are ^eashamed and confounded
and ^fcover their heads.
4 Because of the ground that is dismayed,
since there is ^gno rain on the land,
the farmers are ashamed;
they cover their heads.
5 Even ^hthe doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
6 ⁱThe wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;
they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
because there is no vegetation.
7 “Though our iniquities testify against us,
act, O Lord, ^jfor your name’s sake;
^kfor our backslidings are many;
^lwe have sinned against you.
8 ^mO you hope of Israel,
its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
9 Why should you be like a man confused,
ⁿlike a mighty warrior who cannot save?
Yet ^oyou, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
and ^pwe are called by your name;
^qdo not leave us.”

Joel 1:13-20

A Call to Repentance

13 ^rPut on sackcloth and lament, ^sO priests;
^twail, O ministers of the altar.
Go in, ^upass the night in sackcloth,
^vO ministers of my God!
^wBecause grain offering and drink offering
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 ^xConsecrate a fast;
^ycall a solemn assembly.
Gather ^zthe elders
and ^aaall the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
15 Alas for the day!
^abFor the day of the Lord is near,
and as destruction from the Almighty ^{▼▼ Destruction sounds like the Hebrew for Almighty} it comes.
16 Is not the food cut off
before our eyes,
^adjoy and gladness
from the house of our God?
17 ^aeThe seed shrivels under the clods; ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain}
the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
because ^agthe grain has dried up.
18 How ^ahthe beasts groan!
The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
even the flocks of sheep suffer. ^{▼▼Or are made desolate}
19 To you, ^ajO Lord, I call.
^akFor fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness,
^aland flame has burned
all the trees of the field.
20 Even the beasts of the field ^ampant for you
because the water brooks are dried up,
^anand fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness.

Joel 2:15-17

15 ^aoBlow the trumpet in Zion;
^apconsecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
16 gather the people.
^aqConsecrate the congregation;
assemble the elders;
^argather the children,
even nursing infants.
^asLet the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her chamber.
17 ^atBetween the ^auvestibule and the ^avaltar
^awlet the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
a byword among the nations. ^{▼▼Or reproach, that the nations should rule over them}
^ayWhy should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”