Joel 1

1 This is the word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel:

The Lord’s message that came to Joel, son of Pethuel.

2 Hear this, O elders; and give ear, all who dwell in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your fathers?

Hear this, elders, pay attention, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days, or in the days of your ancestors?

3 Tell it to your children; let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.

Recount it to your children; let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the generation that follows.

4 What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.

That which the cutting locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten, that which the swarming locust has left, the hopping locust has eaten, and that which the hopping locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.

5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth.

Awake, drunkards, and weep, and wail, all drinkers of wine; the new wine is cut off from your mouth.

6 For a nation has invaded My land, powerful and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and its fangs are the fangs of a lioness.

For a nation has come up on my land, powerful, and numberless; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and its jaw-teeth are like those of a lioness.

7 It has laid waste My grapevine and splintered My fig tree. It has stripped off the bark and thrown it away; the branches have turned white.

It has laid waste my vines, and barked my fig tree; it has peeled and cast it away, bleached are the branches.

8 Wail like a virgin dressed in sackcloth, grieving for the husband of her youth.

Wail as a bride, clad in sack-cloth, for the husband of her youth.

9 Grain and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD.

Cut off are the cereal and drink-offerings from the house of the Lord; in mourning are the priests, who minister at the Lord’s altar.

10 The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.

The fields are blasted, the land is in mourning, for ruined is the grain, the new wine fails and the oil is dried up.

11 Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.

Be dismayed, farmers; wail, vine-dressers. For the wheat and the barley; for the harvest is lost from the fields.

12 The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, palm, and apple— all the trees of the orchard—are withered. Surely the joy of mankind has dried up.

The vine fails to bear fruit, and the fig tree is drooping; the pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are dried up. The people’s joy withers.

13 Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.

Put on sackcloth, and beat your breasts, priests; wail, ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sack-cloth, ministers of God; for cereal-offering and drink-offering are cut off from the house of your God.

14 Consecrate a fast; proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.

Sanctify a fast, summon an assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, cry to the Lord:

15 Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

Alas for the day! Near at hand is the day of the Lord, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.

16 Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes— joy and gladness from the house of our God?

Is not food cut off from before us, gladness and joy from the house of our God?

17 The seeds lie shriveled beneath the clods; the storehouses are in ruins; the granaries are broken down, for the grain has withered away.

The grains shrivel under their hoes, the storehouses are desolate, the barns broken down, for the grain is withered.

18 How the cattle groan! The herds wander in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

How the herds of cattle bellow in distress, for they have no pasture! The flocks of sheep are forlorn.

19 To You, O LORD, I call, for fire has consumed the open pastures and flames have scorched all the trees of the field.

To you, the Lord, I cry. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flame has scorched all the trees of the field.

20 Even the beasts of the field pant for You, for the streams of water have dried up, and fire has consumed the open pastures.

The wild animals also look up to you longingly, for the water-courses are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.