Joel 1

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

The word of the Lord which came to Joel, the 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?

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 Concerning it talk to your sons, And your sons to their sons, And their sons to 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 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 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 Awake, you drunkards, and weep, And howl all drinking wine, because of the juice, 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 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 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 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.

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

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

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

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

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 Be ashamed, you farmers, Howl, vinedressers, for wheat and for barley, For 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 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 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 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 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, proclaim a restraint, Gather [the] elderly [and] all those inhabiting the land, [Into the] house of your God YHWH,

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

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

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

Is not food cut off before our eyes? joy and delight 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 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 How livestock have sighed! Perplexed have been droves of oxen, For there is no pasture for them, Also droves of sheep have been desolated.

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

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 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!”

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.