Joel 1

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

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

2 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?

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?

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

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

4 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.

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.

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

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.

6 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.

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.

7 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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

12 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.

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.

13 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.

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.

14 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:

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.

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

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

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

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

17 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.

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.

18 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.

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.

19 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.

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.

20 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.

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.