When the locusts had finished eating every plant in the land, I said, “Almighty Lord, please forgive us! How can ⌞the descendants of⌟ Jacob survive? There are so few of them.”
They covered all the ground until it was black ⌞with them⌟. They ate all the plants and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant anywhere in Egypt.
Then he said, “Lord, please go with us! Even though we are impossible to deal with, forgive our sin and the wrong we have done, and accept us as your own people.”
The Lord your God may have heard the words of the field commander. His master, the king of Assyria, sent him to defy the living God. The Lord your God may punish him because of the message that the Lord your God heard. Pray for the few people who are left.”
Twice as many disasters have happened to you. Who will feel sorry for you? Violence, destruction, famine, and war have happened to you. Who will comfort you?
They said to him, “Please listen to our request, and pray to the Lord your God for all of us who are left here. As you can see, there are only a few of us left.
While I was prophesying, Benaiah’s son Pelatiah died. I immediately bowed down and cried out, “Almighty Lord, will you completely destroy all the remaining people in Israel?”
As they were killing people, I was left alone. So I immediately bowed down. I cried, “Almighty Lord, will you destroy everyone who is left in Israel while you pour out your anger on Jerusalem?”
Listen to us, Lord. Forgive us, Lord. Pay attention, and act. Don’t delay! Do this for your sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”
The priests who serve the Lord cry between the altar and the entrance to the temple. They say, “Spare your people, O Lord. Don’t let the people who belong to you become a disgrace. Don’t let the nations ridicule them. Why should people ask, ‘Where is their God?’ ”
I struck your ⌞crops⌟ with blight and mildew. Locusts repeatedly devoured your gardens, vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees. And you still didn’t return to me, declares the Lord.
Who despised the day when little things began to happen? They will be delighted when they see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand. (These seven eyes of the Lord roam over all the earth.)”
They were told not to harm any grass, green plant, or tree on the earth. They could harm only the people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.