Joel 1

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

The Lord’s message that came to Joel, 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?

Hear this, elders, pay attention, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days, or in the days of your ancestors?

3 Tell your children about it, and have your children tell their children, and their children, another generation.

Recount it to your children; let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the generation that follows.

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.

That which the cutting locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten, that which the swarming locust has left, the hopping locust has eaten, and that which the hopping locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.

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.

Awake, drunkards, and weep, and wail, all drinkers of wine; the new wine is cut off from your mouth.

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 on my land, powerful, and numberless; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and its jaw-teeth are like those of a lioness.

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.

It has laid waste my vines, and barked my fig tree; it has peeled and cast it away, bleached are the branches.

8 Mourn like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

Wail as a bride, clad in sack-cloth, for the husband of her youth.

9 The meal offering and the drink offering are cut off from YHWH's house. The priests, YHWH's ministers, mourn.

Cut off are the cereal and drink-offerings from the house of the Lord; in mourning are the priests, who minister at the Lord’s altar.

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 blasted, the land is in mourning, for ruined is the corn, the new wine fails and the oil is dried up.

11 Be confounded, you farmers. Wail, you vineyard keepers; for the wheat and for the barley; for the harvest of the field has perished.

Be dismayed, farmers; wail, vine-dressers. For the wheat and the barley; for the harvest is lost from the fields.

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 fails to bear fruit, and the fig tree is drooping; the pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are dried up. The people’s joy withers.

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 on sackcloth, and beat your breasts, priests; wail, ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sack-cloth, ministers of God; for cereal-offering and drink-offering are cut off 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.

Sanctify a fast, summon an assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, cry to the Lord:

15 Alas for the day. For the day of YHWH is at hand, and it will come as destruction from Shaddai.

Alas for the day! Near at hand is the day of the Lord, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.

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

Is not food cut off from before us, gladness and joy 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 shrivel under their hoes, the storehouses are desolate, the barns broken down, for the corn is withered.

18 How the animals groan. The herds of livestock are perplexed, because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep suffer.

How the herds of cattle bellow in distress, for they have no pasture! The flocks of sheep are forlorn.

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.

To you, the Lord, I cry. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flame has scorched all the trees of the field.

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 wild animals also look up to you longingly, for the water-courses are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.