Joel 1

1 The word of the Lord which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.

The word of Jehovah, which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.

2 Give ear to this, you old men, and take note, you people of the land. Has this ever been in your days, or in the days of your fathers?

Hear this, ye old men; Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land! Hath such a thing happened in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers?

3 Give the story of it to your children, and let them give it to their children, and their children to another generation.

Tell ye your children of it, And let your children tell their children, And their children another generation!

4 What the worm did not make a meal of, has been taken by the locust; and what the locust did not take, has been food for the plant-worm; and what the plant-worm did not take, has been food for the field-fly.

That which the gnawing-locust left hath the swarming-locust eaten, And that which the swarming-locust left hath the licking-locust eaten, And that which the licking-locust left hath the consuming-locust eaten.

5 Come out of your sleep, you who are overcome with wine, and give yourselves to weeping; give cries of sorrow, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it has been cut off from your mouths.

Awake, ye drunkards, and weep! Howl, all ye drinkers of wine, For the new wine, which is snatched from your mouths!

6 For a nation has come up over my land, strong and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the back teeth of a great lion.

For a nation hath come up on my land, Strong, and not to be numbered; Their teeth are the teeth of the lion; They have the jaw-teeth of the lioness.

7 By him my vine is made waste and my fig-tree broken: he has taken all its fruit and sent it down to the earth; its branches are made white.

They have made my vine a desolation, And my fig-tree a broken branch; They have made it quite bare and cast it away; The branches thereof are made white.

8 Make sounds of grief like a virgin dressed in haircloth for the husband of her early years.

Lament ye, like a bride, Clothed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth!

9 The meal offering and the drink offering have been cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, the Lord's servants, are sorrowing.

The flour-offering and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of Jehovah; The priests, the servants of Jehovah mourn.

10 The fields are wasted, the land has become dry; for the grain is wasted, the new wine is kept back, the oil is poor.

The field is laid waste; The ground mourneth, For the corn is laid waste; The new wine is dried up; The oil languisheth.

11 The farmers are shamed, the workers in the vine-gardens give cries of grief, for the wheat and the barley; for the produce of the fields has come to destruction.

Lament, O ye husbandmen, Howl, O ye vine-dressers, For the wheat and the barley, For the harvest of the field hath perished!

12 The vine has become dry and the fig-tree is feeble; the pomegranate and the palm-tree and the apple-tree, even all the trees of the field, are dry: because joy has gone from the sons of men.

The vine is dried up, And the fig-tree languisheth; The pomegranate, the palm-tree, and the apple-tree, —All the trees of the field, are withered; Yea, joy is withered away from the sons of men.

13 Put haircloth round you and give yourselves to sorrow, you priests; give cries of grief, you servants of the altar: come in, and, clothed in haircloth, let the night go past, you servants of my God: for the meal offering and the drink offering have been kept back from the house of your God.

Gird yourselves with sackcloth and mourn, ye priests! Howl, ye ministers of the altar! Come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God, For the flour-offering and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God!

14 Let a time be fixed for going without food, have a holy meeting, let the old men, even all the people of the land, come together to the house of the Lord your God, crying out to the Lord.

Appoint ye a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land Into the house of Jehovah, your God, And cry unto Jehovah!

15 Sorrow for the day! for the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Ruler of all it will come.

Alas, alas the day! For the day of Jehovah is near; Even as destruction from the Almighty doth it come.

16 Is not food cut off before our eyes? joy and delight from the house of our God?

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

17 The grains have become small and dry under the spade; the store-houses are made waste, the grain-stores are broken down; for the grain is dry and dead.

The seeds are rotten under their clods, The storehouses are laid desolate, the garners are destroyed; For the corn is withered.

18 What sounds of pain come from the beasts! the herds of cattle are at a loss because there is no grass for them; even the flocks of sheep are no longer to be seen.

How do the beasts groan, How do the herds of oxen wander perplexed, Having no pasture! The flocks of sheep also are destroyed.

19 O Lord, my cry goes up to you: for fire has put an end to the grass-lands of the waste, and all the trees of the field are burned with its flame.

To thee, O Jehovah, do I call, For a fire hath devoured the pastures of the desert, And a flame hath burned all the trees of the field!

20 The beasts of the field are turning to you with desire: for the water-streams are dry and fire has put an end to the grass-lands of the waste.

The beasts of the field, also, cry unto thee, For the streams of water are dried up, And a fire hath devoured the pastures of the desert!