Joel 1

1 A word of YHWH that has been to Joel, son of Pethuel:

This is the word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel:

2 Hear this, you aged ones, And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land, Has this been in your days? Or in the days of your fathers?

Hear this, O elders; and give ear, all who dwell in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your fathers?

3 Concerning it talk to your sons, And your sons to their sons, And their sons to another generation.

Tell it to your children; let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.

4 What is left of the palmer-worm, the locust has eaten, And what is left of the locust, The cankerworm has eaten, And what is left of the cankerworm, The caterpillar has eaten.

What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.

5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep, And howl all drinking wine, because of the juice, For it has been cut off from your mouth.

Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth.

6 For a nation has come up on My land, Strong, and there is no number, Its teeth [are] the teeth of a lion, And it has the jaw-teeth of a lioness.

For a nation has invaded My land, powerful and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and its fangs are the fangs of a lioness.

7 It has made My vine become a desolation, And My fig tree become a splinter, It has made it thoroughly bare, and has cast down, Its branches have been made white.

It has laid waste My grapevine and splintered My fig tree. It has stripped off the bark and thrown it away; the branches have turned white.

8 Wail, as a virgin girds with sackcloth, For the husband of her youth.

Wail like a virgin dressed in sackcloth, grieving for the husband of her youth.

9 Present and drink-offering have been cut off from the house of YHWH, The priests have mourned, servants of YHWH.

Grain and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD.

10 The field is spoiled, The ground has mourned, For the grain is spoiled, New wine has been dried up, oil languishes.

The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.

11 Be ashamed, you farmers, Howl, vinedressers, for wheat and for barley, For the harvest of the field has perished.

Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.

12 The vine has been dried up, And the fig tree languishes, Pomegranate, also palm, and apple-tree, All trees of the field have withered, For joy has been dried up from the sons of men.

The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, palm, and apple— all the trees of the orchard—are withered. Surely the joy of mankind has dried up.

13 Gird, and lament, you priests, Howl, you servants of the altar, Come in, lodge in sackcloth, servants of my God, For present and drink-offering have been withheld from the house of your God.

Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.

14 Sanctify a fast, proclaim a restraint, Gather [the] elderly [and] all those inhabiting the land, [Into the] house of your God YHWH,

Consecrate a fast; proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.

15 And cry to YHWH, “Aah! For the day! For [the] Day of YHWH [is] near, And it comes as destruction from [the] Almighty.

Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

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

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

17 Scattered things have rotted under their clods, Storehouses have been desolated, Granaries have been broken down, For the grain has withered.

The seeds lie shriveled beneath the clods; the storehouses are in ruins; the granaries are broken down, for the grain has withered away.

18 How livestock have sighed! Perplexed have been droves of oxen, For there is no pasture for them, Also droves of sheep have been desolated.

How the cattle groan! The herds wander in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

19 To You, O YHWH, I call, For fire has consumed lovely places of a wilderness, And a flame has set on fire all trees of the field.

To You, O LORD, I call, for fire has consumed the open pastures and flames have scorched all the trees of the field.

20 Also the livestock of the field long for You, For dried up have been streams of water, And fire has consumed lovely places of a wilderness!”

Even the beasts of the field pant for You, for the streams of water have dried up, and fire has consumed the open pastures.