Joel 1
1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Phatuel.
This is the word of Yahweh that came to Joel son of Pethuel.
2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land: did this ever happen in your days, or in the days of your fathers?
Hear this, you elders, and listen, all you inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors?
3 Tell ye of this to your children, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.
Tell your children about it, and let your children tell their children, and their children the next generation.
4 That which the palmerworm hath left, the locust hath eaten: and that which the locust hath left, the bruchus hath eaten: and that which the bruchus hath left, the mildew hath destroyed.
What the swarming locust has left the great locust has eaten; what the great locust has left the grasshopper has eaten; and what the grasshopper has left the caterpillar has eaten.
5 Awake, ye that are drunk, and weep, and mourn all ye that take delight in drinking sweet wine: for it is cut off from your mouth.
Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine, because the sweet wine has been cut off from you.
6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong and without number: his teeth are like the teeth of a lion: and his cheek teeth as of a lion’s whelp.
For a nation has come up upon my land, strong and without number. His teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the teeth of a lioness.
7 He hath laid my vineyard waste, and hath pilled off the bark of my fig tree: he hath stripped it bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
He has made my vineyard into a desolate place and has stripped my fig tree bare. He has stripped its bark and thrown it away; the branches are bare white.
8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
Mourn like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the death of her young husband.
9 Sacrifice and libation is cut off from the house of the Lord: the priests, the Lord’s ministers, have mourned:
The grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off from Yahweh's house. The priests, Yahweh's servants, mourn.
10 The country is destroyed, the ground hath mourned: for the corn is wasted, the wine is confounded, the oil hath languished.
The fields are ruined, the ground is mourning because the grain has been destroyed. The new wine has dried up, the oil fails.
11 The husbandmen are ashamed, the vinedressers have howled for the wheat, and for the barley, because the harvest of the field is perished.
Be ashamed, you farmers, and wail, you vine growers, for the wheat and the barley. For the harvest of the fields has perished.
12 The vineyard is confounded, and the fig tree hath languished: the pomegranate tree, and the palm tree, and the apple tree, and all the trees of the field are withered: because joy is withdrawn from the children of men.
The vines have withered and the fig trees have dried up, the pomegranate trees, also the palm trees, and the apple trees— all the trees of the field have withered. For joy has withered away from the descendants of mankind.
13 Gird yourselves, and lament, O ye priests, howl, ye ministers of the altars: go in, lie in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: because sacrifice and libation is cut off from the house of your God.
Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests! Wail, you servants of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you servants of my God. For the grain offering and the drink offering have been withheld from the house of your God.
14 Sanctify ye a fast, call an assembly; gather together the ancients, all the inhabitants of the land into the house of your God: and cry ye to the Lord:
Call for a holy fast, and call a holy assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of Yahweh your God, and cry to Yahweh.
15 Ah, ah, ah, for the day: because the day of the Lord is at hand, and it shall come like destruction from the mighty.
Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is almost here. With it will come destruction from the Almighty.
16 Is not your food cut off before your eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
Has not food been cut off from before our eyes, and joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 The beasts have rotted in their dung, the barns are destroyed, the storehouses are broken down: because the corn is confounded.
The seeds rot under their clods, the granaries are desolate, and the barns have been broken down, for the grain has withered.
18 Why did the beast groan, why did the herds of cattle low? because there is no pasture for them: yea, and the flocks of sheep are perished.
How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are suffering because they have no pasture. Also, the flocks of sheep suffer.
19 To thee, O Lord, will I cry: because fire hath devoured the beautiful places of the wilderness, and the flame hath burnt all the trees of the country.
Yahweh, I cry to you. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flames have burned all the trees of the fields.
20 Yea and the beasts of the field have looked up to thee, as a garden bed that thirsteth after rain, for the springs of waters are dried up, and fire hath devoured the beautiful places of the wilderness.
Even the animals of the fields pant for you, for the water brooks have dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
