Joel 1

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

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 ever such a thing as this come to pass in your days, or ever 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 it to your children, and let your children tell it to 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 What the caterpillar left hath the locust eaten; and what the locust left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm left hath the cricket eaten.

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 Wake up, ye drunkards, and weep; and wail, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the sweet new wine, that it is taken away 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 over my land, strong, and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it hath the cutting-teeth of the lioness.

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 It hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig-tree: it hath peeled it clean bare, and cast it down; made white are its light branches.

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 betrothed of her youth.

Mourn like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the death of her young husband.

9 Cut off are the meat-offering and the drink-offering from the house of the Lord: now mourn the priests, the ministers of the Lord.

The grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off from Yahweh's house. The priests, Yahweh's servants, mourn.

10 Wasted is the field, the land mourneth; for wasted is the corn: dried up is the new wine, withered is the oil.

The fields are ruined, the ground is mourning because the grain has been destroyed. The new wine has dried up, the oil fails.

11 Be ashamed, O ye husbandmen; wail, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because lost is the harvest of the field.

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 vine is made ashamed, and the fig-tree is withered; the pomegranate-tree, the palm-tree also, and the apple-tree, even all the trees of the field, are dried up; because joy hath ceased 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 [with sackcloth], and lament, ye priests; wail, ye ministers of the altar: come, remain all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God; for there are withholden from the house of your God the meat-offering and the drink-offering.

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, proclaim a solemn assembly, gather the elders, all the inhabitants of the land, into the house of the Lord your God, and cry aloud unto 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 Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and like destruction from the Almighty will it come.

Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is almost here. With it will come destruction from the Almighty.

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

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

17 The grains of seed are rotten under their clods, laid desolate are the garners, pulled down are the barns; for the corn is dried up.

The seeds rot under their clods, the granaries are desolate, and the barns have been broken down, for the grain has withered.

18 How do the beasts groan! how do the herds of cattle roam about; because there is no pasture for them: yea, the flocks of sheep are made to perish.

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; for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath singed all the trees of the field.

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 Also the beasts of the field cry unto thee panting; for the brooks of waters are dried up, and a fire hath devoured the pastures 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.