“ If there is a famine in the land or a plague or crop disease or attacks of locusts or caterpillars, or if your people’s enemies are in the land besieging their towns— whatever disaster or disease there is—

“国中若有饥荒、瘟疫、旱风、霉烂、蝗虫、蚂蚱，或有仇敌犯境，围困城邑，无论遭遇什么灾祸疾病，

“这地若有饥荒、瘟疫、焚风、霉烂、蝗虫、蚂蚱，或有仇敌围困这地的城门，无论遭遇什么灾祸疾病，

“这地若有饥荒、瘟疫、焚风、霉烂、蝗虫、蚂蚱，或有仇敌围困这地的城门，无论遭遇什么灾祸疾病，

“如果国中有饥荒、瘟疫、旱灾、霉病、蝗灾、虫灾，或是城邑被敌人围困，无论遭遇什么灾祸疾病，

“国中若是有饥荒、瘟疫、旱风、霉烂、蝗虫、蚂蚱，或是有仇敌围困城镇，或是有什么灾祸，什么疾病，

「國中若有饑荒、瘟疫、旱風、霉爛、蝗蟲、螞蚱，或有仇敵犯境，圍困城邑，無論遭遇甚麼災禍疾病，

「這地若有饑荒、瘟疫、焚風、霉爛、蝗蟲、螞蚱，或有仇敵圍困這地的城門，無論遭遇甚麼災禍疾病，

「這地若有饑荒、瘟疫、焚風、霉爛、蝗蟲、螞蚱，或有仇敵圍困這地的城門，無論遭遇甚麼災禍疾病，

「如果國中有饑荒、瘟疫、旱災、黴病、蝗災、蟲災，或是城邑被敵人圍困，無論遭遇什麼災禍疾病，

“國中若是有饑荒、瘟疫、旱風、霉爛、蝗蟲、螞蚱，或是有仇敵圍困城鎮，或是有甚麼災禍，甚麼疾病，

『此地若有饑荒，瘟疫、旱風或霉爛、蝗蟲、或螞蚱，若有仇敵圍困城市之地，無論甚麼災病、甚麼病痛，

如斯土有饑饉疫癘、五穀枯槁霉爛、或有蝻蝗蚱蜢、或有仇敵犯境、圍其城邑、無論何災何疾、

如於斯地、有飢饉瘟疫、風暴特甚、五穀細弱、如有蝗蟲、食其物產、如有仇敵、困其邑鄉、勿論何災、勿論何害、

如於斯地有饑饉疫癘、或稼穡萎弱枯稿、或有蝗蝻蚱蜢之災、或敵人犯境、圍困城池、無論何災、無論何害、害原文作病

“ When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come,

“ Suppose there isn’t enough food in the land. And a plague strikes the land. The hot winds completely dry up our crops. Or locusts or grasshoppers come and eat them up. Or enemies surround one of our cities and get ready to attack it. Or trouble or sickness comes.

“ If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,

When there is famine in the land, when there is pestilence, when there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, when their enemies besiege them in the land and its cities, when there is any plague or illness,

“ If there is a famine in the land, if there is a plague, if there is blight or mildew, if there is locust or grasshopper, if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague or whatever sickness there is,

“ When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is;

If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague or whatsoever sickness there be;

When there is famine on the earth, when there is pestilence, when there is blight, mildew, locust, or grasshopper, when their enemies besiege them in the region of their fortified cities, when there is any plague or illness,

If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness[ there be]:

“ The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight, and disease, or a locust invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs.

“ If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is;

In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him.

I will send armies against you to carry out the curse of the covenant you have broken. When you run to your towns for safety, I will send a plague to destroy you there, and you will be handed over to your enemies.I will destroy your food supply, so that ten women will need only one oven to bake bread for their families. They will ration your food by weight, and though you have food to eat, you will not be satisfied.

Then the Lord said to Moses,“ Raise your hand over the land of Egypt to bring on the locusts. Let them cover the land and devour every plant that survived the hailstorm.”So Moses raised his staff over Egypt, and the Lord caused an east wind to blow over the land all that day and through the night. When morning arrived, the east wind had brought the locusts.And the locusts swarmed over the whole land of Egypt, settling in dense swarms from one end of the country to the other. It was the worst locust plague in Egyptian history, and there has never been another one like it.For the locusts covered the whole country and darkened the land. They devoured every plant in the fields and all the fruit on the trees that had survived the hailstorm. Not a single leaf was left on the trees and plants throughout the land of Egypt.

“ If there is a famine in the land or a plague or crop disease or attacks of locusts or caterpillars, or if your people’s enemies are in the land besieging their towns— whatever disaster or disease there is—and if your people Israel pray about their troubles, raising their hands toward this Temple,then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give your people what their actions deserve, for you alone know each human heart.Then they will fear you as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors.

Despair, all you farmers! Wail, all you vine growers! Weep, because the wheat and barley— all the crops of the field— are ruined.

The Lord will afflict you with diseases until none of you are left in the land you are about to enter and occupy.The Lord will strike you with wasting diseases, fever, and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew. These disasters will pursue you until you die.The skies above will be as unyielding as bronze, and the earth beneath will be as hard as iron.The Lord will change the rain that falls on your land into powder, and dust will pour down from the sky until you are destroyed.“ The Lord will cause you to be defeated by your enemies. You will attack your enemies from one direction, but you will scatter from them in seven! You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.Your corpses will be food for all the scavenging birds and wild animals, and no one will be there to chase them away.“ The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, scurvy, and the itch, from which you cannot be cured.The Lord will strike you with madness, blindness, and panic.You will grope around in broad daylight like a blind person groping in the darkness, but you will not find your way. You will be oppressed and robbed continually, and no one will come to save you.“ You will be engaged to a woman, but another man will sleep with her. You will build a house, but someone else will live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will never enjoy its fruit.Your ox will be butchered before your eyes, but you will not eat a single bite of the meat. Your donkey will be taken from you, never to be returned. Your sheep and goats will be given to your enemies, and no one will be there to help you.You will watch as your sons and daughters are taken away as slaves. Your heart will break for them, but you won’t be able to help them.A foreign nation you have never heard about will eat the crops you worked so hard to grow. You will suffer under constant oppression and harsh treatment.You will go mad because of all the tragedy you see around you.The Lord will cover your knees and legs with incurable boils. In fact, you will be covered from head to foot.“ The Lord will exile you and your king to a nation unknown to you and your ancestors. There in exile you will worship gods of wood and stone!You will become an object of horror, ridicule, and mockery among all the nations to which the Lord sends you.“ You will plant much but harvest little, for locusts will eat your crops.You will plant vineyards and care for them, but you will not drink the wine or eat the grapes, for worms will destroy the vines.You will grow olive trees throughout your land, but you will never use the olive oil, for the fruit will drop before it ripens.You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, for they will be led away into captivity.Swarms of insects will destroy your trees and crops.“ The foreigners living among you will become stronger and stronger, while you become weaker and weaker.They will lend money to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the head, and you will be the tail!“ If you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and to obey the commands and decrees he has given you, all these curses will pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed.These horrors will serve as a sign and warning among you and your descendants forever.If you do not serve the Lord your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received,you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. You will be left hungry, thirsty, naked, and lacking in everything. The Lord will put an iron yoke on your neck, oppressing you harshly until he has destroyed you.“ The Lord will bring a distant nation against you from the end of the earth, and it will swoop down on you like a vulture. It is a nation whose language you do not understand,a fierce and heartless nation that shows no respect for the old and no pity for the young.Its armies will devour your livestock and crops, and you will be destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine, olive oil, calves, or lambs, and you will starve to death.They will attack your cities until all the fortified walls in your land— the walls you trusted to protect you— are knocked down. They will attack all the towns in the land the Lord your God has given you.“ The siege and terrible distress of the enemy’s attack will be so severe that you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you.The most tenderhearted man among you will have no compassion for his own brother, his beloved wife, and his surviving children.He will refuse to share with them the flesh he is devouring— the flesh of one of his own children— because he has nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns.The most tender and delicate woman among you— so delicate she would not so much as touch the ground with her foot— will be selfish toward the husband she loves and toward her own son or daughter.She will hide from them the afterbirth and the new baby she has borne, so that she herself can secretly eat them. She will have nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns.“ If you refuse to obey all the words of instruction that are written in this book, and if you do not fear the glorious and awesome name of the Lord your God,then the Lord will overwhelm you and your children with indescribable plagues. These plagues will be intense and without relief, making you miserable and unbearably sick.He will afflict you with all the diseases of Egypt that you feared so much, and you will have no relief.The Lord will afflict you with every sickness and plague there is, even those not mentioned in this Book of Instruction, until you are destroyed.

After Hezekiah had faithfully carried out this work, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified towns, giving orders for his army to break through their walls.

I will punish you. I will bring sudden terrors upon you— wasting diseases and burning fevers that will cause your eyes to fail and your life to ebb away. You will plant your crops in vain because your enemies will eat them.

Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions.They were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting.In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them!The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. They had what looked like gold crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like human faces.They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like the teeth of a lion.They wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle.They had tails that stung like scorpions, and for five months they had the power to torment people.Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon— the Destroyer.

Because they were unfaithful to the Lord, King Shishak of Egypt came up and attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam’s reign.He came with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horses, and a countless army of foot soldiers, including Libyans, Sukkites, and Ethiopians.Shishak conquered Judah’s fortified towns and then advanced to attack Jerusalem.The prophet Shemaiah then met with Rehoboam and Judah’s leaders, who had all fled to Jerusalem because of Shishak. Shemaiah told them,“ This is what the Lord says: You have abandoned me, so I am abandoning you to Shishak.”

After the cutting locusts finished eating the crops, the swarming locusts took what was left! After them came the hopping locusts, and then the stripping locusts, too!Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you wine drinkers! All the grapes are ruined, and all your sweet wine is gone.A vast army of locusts has invaded my land, a terrible army too numerous to count. Its teeth are like lions’ teeth, its fangs like those of a lioness.It has destroyed my grapevines and ruined my fig trees, stripping their bark and destroying it, leaving the branches white and bare.

Jehoshaphat stood before the community of Judah and Jerusalem in front of the new courtyard at the Temple of the Lord.He prayed,“ O Lord, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you!O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham?Your people settled here and built this Temple to honor your name.They said,‘ Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’“ And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they went around them and did not destroy them.Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land, which you gave us as an inheritance.O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”As all the men of Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, wives, and children,

Elisha had told the woman whose son he had brought back to life,“ Take your family and move to some other place, for the Lord has called for a famine on Israel that will last for seven years.”

The Lord says,“ I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts. It was I who sent this great destroying army against you.

Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.

About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill. He prayed to the Lord, who healed him and gave him a miraculous sign.

As a result, there was a great famine in the city. The siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty pieces of silver, and a cup of dove’s dung sold for five pieces of silver.One day as the king of Israel was walking along the wall of the city, a woman called to him,“ Please help me, my lord the king!”He answered,“ If the Lord doesn’t help you, what can I do? I have neither food from the threshing floor nor wine from the press to give you.”But then the king asked,“ What is the matter?” She replied,“ This woman said to me:‘ Come on, let’s eat your son today, then we will eat my son tomorrow.’So we cooked my son and ate him. Then the next day I said to her,‘ Kill your son so we can eat him,’ but she has hidden her son.”