Joel 1

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

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

2 Hear these [words], ye elders, and hearken all ye that inhabit the land. Have such things happen in your days, or in the days of your fathers?

Listen to this, elders, and pay close attention, all inhabitants of the land. Did this ever happen in your days or in the days of your fathers?

3 Tell your children concerning them, and [let] your children [tell] their children, and their children another generation.

Talk this over with your sons, and your sons with their sons, and their sons with another generation.

4 The leavings of the caterpillar has the locust eaten, and the leavings of the locust has the palmerworm eaten, and the leavings of the palmerworm has the cankerworm eaten.

The locust has eaten what the caterpillar has left, and the beetle has eaten what the locust has left, and the mildew has eaten what the beetle has left.

5 Awake, ye drunkards, from your wine, and weep: mourn, all ye that drink wine to drunkenness: for joy and gladness and removed are from your mouth.

Rouse yourselves, you drunkards, and weep and wail, all you who delight in drinking wine; for it has been cut off from your mouth.

6 For a strong and innumerable nation is come up against my land, their teeth are lion's teeth, and their back teeth those of a [lion's] whelp.

For a nation has ascended over my land: strong and without number. His teeth are like the teeth of a lion, and his molars are like that of a lion’s young.

7 He has ruined my vine, and utterly broken my fig-trees: he has utterly searched [my vine], and cast it down; he has peeled its branches.

He has put my vineyard into desolation, and he has pulled off the bark of my fig tree. He has stripped it bare and cast it away; its branches have become white.

8 Lament to me more than a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

Lament like a betrothed virgin, wrapped in sackcloth at the loss of the husband of her youth.

9 The meat-offering and drink-offering are removed from the house of the Lord: mourn, ye priests that serve at the altar of the Lord.

Sacrifice and libation have perished from the house of the Lord; the priests who are ministers of the Lord have mourned.

10 For the plains languish: let the land mourn, for the corn languishes; the wine is dried up, the oil becomes scarce;

The region has been depopulated, the soil has mourned. For the wheat has been devastated, the wine has been disfigured, the oil has languished.

11 the husbandmen are consumed: mourn your property on account of the wheat and barley; for the harvest has perished from off the field.

The farmers have been confounded, the vineyard workers have wailed over the crop and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.

12 The vine is dried up, and the fig-trees are become few; the pomegranate, and palm-tree, and apple, and all trees of the field are dried up: for the sons of men have have abolished joy.

The vineyard is in ruin, and the fig tree has languished. The pomegranate tree, and the palm tree, and the fruit tree, and all the trees of the field have withered. For joy has been thrown into disorder before the sons of men.

13 Gird yourselves [with sackcloth], and lament, ye priests: mourn, ye that serve at the altar: go in, sleep in sackcloths, ye that minister to God: for the meat-offering and drink-offering are withheld from the house of your God.

Priests, gird yourselves and lament. Ministers of the altars, wail. Enter, ministers of my God, lie in sackcloth. For sacrifice and libation have passed away from the house of your God.

14 Sanctify a fast, proclaim a [solemn] service, gather the elders [and] all the inhabitants of the land into the house of your God, and cry earnestly to the Lord,

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

15 Alas, Alas, Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is nigh, and it will come as trouble upon trouble.

“Ah, ah, ah, the day!” For the day of the Lord is near, and it will arrive, like a devastation, before the powerful.

16 [Your] meat has been destroyed before your eyes, joy and gladness from out of the house of your God.

Has not your nourishment perished from before your eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

17 The heifers have started at their mangers, the treasures are abolished, the wine-presses are broken down; for the corn is withered.

The mules have rotted in their own manure, the barns have been demolished, the wine cellars have been destroyed, because the grain has been ruined.

18 What shall we store up for ourselves? the herds of cattle have mourned, because they had no pasture; and the flocks of sheep have been utterly destroyed.

Why have the animals groaned, the herds of cattle bellowed? because there is no pasture for them. Yes, and even the flocks of sheep have been lost.

19 To thee, O Lord, will I cry: for fire has devoured the fair places of the wilderness, and a flame has burnt up all the trees of the field.

To you, O Lord, I will cry out, because fire has devoured the beauty of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the countryside.

20 And the cattle of the field have looked up to thee: for the fountains of waters have been dried up, and fire has devoured the fair places of the wilderness.

Yes, and even the beasts of the field have gazed up at you, like the dry ground thirsting for rain, because the fountains of waters have dried up, and fire has devoured the beauty of the wilderness.