< Joel 1 >
1 A word of YHWH that has been to Joel, son of Pethuel:
The word of the Lord that 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?
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?
3 Concerning it talk to your sons, And your sons to their sons, And their sons to another generation.
Tell ye of it to your children, and let your children tell 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 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.
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, 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.
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 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.
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 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.
8 Wail, as a virgin girds with sackcloth, For the husband of her youth.
Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the betrothed of her youth.
9 Present and drink-offering have been cut off from the house of YHWH, The priests have mourned, servants of YHWH.
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.
10 The field is spoiled, The ground has mourned, For the grain is spoiled, New wine has been dried up, oil languishes.
Wasted is the field, the land mourneth; for wasted is the corn: dried up is the new wine, withered is the oil.
11 Be ashamed, you farmers, Howl, vinedressers, for wheat and for barley, For the harvest of the field has perished.
Be ashamed, O ye husbandmen; wail, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because lost is the harvest of the field.
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 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.
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.
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.
14 Sanctify a fast, proclaim a restraint, Gather [the] elderly [and] all those inhabiting the land, [Into the] house of your God YHWH,
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.
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 at hand, and like destruction from the Almighty will it come.
16 Is food not cut off before our eyes? Joy and rejoicing from the house of our God?
Is not before our eyes the food cut off, from the house of our God joy and gladness?
17 Scattered things have rotted under their clods, Storehouses have been desolated, Granaries have been broken down, For the grain has withered.
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.
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 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.
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 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.
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!”
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.