Joel 1

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

The word of the Lord which came to Joel the son of Bathuel.

2 Hear this, ye old men; Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land! Hath such a thing happened in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers?

Hear these [words], you elders, and listen all you that inhabit the land. Have such things happen in your days, or in the days of your fathers?

3 Tell ye your children of it, And let your children tell their children, And their children another generation!

Tell your children concerning them, and [let] your children [tell] their children, and their children another generation.

4 That which the gnawing-locust left hath the swarming-locust eaten, And that which the swarming-locust left hath the licking-locust eaten, And that which the licking-locust left hath the consuming-locust eaten.

The leavings of the caterpillar has the locust eaten, and the leavings of the locust has the palmerworm eaten, and the leavings of the palmerworm has the cankerworm eaten.

5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep! Howl, all ye drinkers of wine, For the new wine, which is snatched from your mouths!

Awake, you drunkards, from your wine, and weep: mourn, all you that drink wine to drunkenness: for joy and gladness and removed are from your mouth.

6 For a nation hath come up on my land, Strong, and not to be numbered; Their teeth are the teeth of the lion; They have the jaw-teeth of the lioness.

For a strong and innumerable nation is come up against my land, their teeth are lion's teeth, and their back teeth those of a [lion's] whelp.

7 They have made my vine a desolation, And my fig-tree a broken branch; They have made it quite bare and cast it away; The branches thereof are made white.

He has ruined my vine, and utterly broken my fig-trees: he has utterly searched [my vine], and cast it down; he has peeled its branches.

8 Lament ye, like a bride, Clothed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth!

Lament to me more than a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

9 The flour-offering and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of Jehovah; The priests, the servants of Jehovah mourn.

The meat-offering and drink-offering are removed from the house of the Lord: mourn, you priests that serve at the altar of the Lord.

10 The field is laid waste; The ground mourneth, For the corn is laid waste; The new wine is dried up; The oil languisheth.

For the plains languish: let the land mourn, for the corn languishes; the wine is dried up, the oil becomes scarce;

11 Lament, O ye husbandmen, Howl, O ye vine-dressers, For the wheat and the barley, For the harvest of the field hath perished!

the husbandmen are consumed: mourn your property on account of the wheat and barley; for the harvest has perished from off the field.

12 The vine is dried up, And the fig-tree languisheth; The pomegranate, the palm-tree, and the apple-tree, —All the trees of the field, are withered; Yea, joy is withered away from the sons of men.

The vine is dried up, and the fig-trees are become few; the pomegranate, and palm tree, and apple, and all trees of the field are dried up: for the sons of men have have abolished joy.

13 Gird yourselves with sackcloth and mourn, ye priests! Howl, ye ministers of the altar! Come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God, For the flour-offering and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God!

Gird yourselves [with sackcloth], and lament, you priests: mourn, you that serve at the altar: go in, sleep in sackcloths, you that minister to God: for the meat-offering and drink-offering are withheld from the house of your God.

14 Appoint ye a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land Into the house of Jehovah, your God, And cry unto Jehovah!

Sanctify a fast, proclaim a [solemn] service, gather the elders [and] all the inhabitants of the land into the house of your God, and cry earnestly to the Lord,

15 Alas, alas the day! For the day of Jehovah is near; Even as destruction from the Almighty doth it come.

Alas, Alas, Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is near, and it will come as trouble upon trouble.

16 Is not our food cut off from before our eyes, Yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

[Your] meat has been destroyed before your eyes, joy and gladness from out of the house of your God.

17 The seeds are rotten under their clods, The storehouses are laid desolate, the garners are destroyed; For the corn is withered.

The heifers have started at their mangers, the treasures are abolished, the wine presses are broken down; for the corn is withered.

18 How do the beasts groan, How do the herds of oxen wander perplexed, Having no pasture! The flocks of sheep also are destroyed.

What shall we store up for ourselves? the herds of cattle have mourned, because they had no pasture; and the flocks of sheep have been utterly destroyed.

19 To thee, O Jehovah, do I call, For a fire hath devoured the pastures of the desert, And a flame hath burned all the trees of the field!

To you, O Lord, will I cry: for fire has devoured the fair places of the wilderness, and a flame has burnt up all the trees of the field.

20 The beasts of the field, also, cry unto thee, For the streams of water are dried up, And a fire hath devoured the pastures of the desert!

And the cattle of the field have looked up to you: for the fountains of waters have been dried up, and fire has devoured the fair places of the wilderness.