Joel 1

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

The word of the Lord which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.

2 Hear this, you elders, And listen, all you inhabitants of the land. Has this ever happened 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 Tell your children about it, and have your children tell their children, and their children, 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 the swarming locust has left, the great locust has eaten. What the great locust has left, the grasshopper has eaten. What the grasshopper has left, 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 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep. Wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it is 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 without number. His teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs 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 He has laid my vine waste, and stripped my fig tree. He has stripped its bark, and thrown it away. Its branches are 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 Mourn like a virgin dressed in 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 The meal offering and the drink offering are cut off from YHWH's house. The priests, YHWH's ministers, mourn.

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 laid waste. The land mourns, for the grain is destroyed, The new wine has dried up, and the 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 confounded, you farmers. Wail, you vineyard keepers; for the wheat and for the 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 dried up, and the fig tree withered; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all of the trees of the field are withered; for joy has withered away 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 Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests. Wail, you ministers of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, for the meal offering and the drink offering are withheld from your God's house.

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. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land, to the house of YHWH, your God, and cry to 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 Alas for the day. For the day of YHWH is at hand, and it will come as destruction from Shaddai.

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

16 Isn't the food cut off before our eyes; joy and gladness from the house of our God?

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

17 The seeds shrivel under their shovels. The storehouses are laid desolate. The granaries are 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 the animals groan. The herds of livestock are perplexed, because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep suffer.

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 YHWH, I cry to you, for the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the 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 Yes, the animals of the field pant to you, for the water brooks have dried up, And the fire has devoured the pastures of the 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.