Joel 1

1 The word of Yahweh, which came unto Joel, son of Pethuel.

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

2 Hear this, ye elders, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land, —hath this ever happened in your days? or in the days of your fathers?

Listen to this, elders, and pay close attention, all inhabitants of the land. Did this ever happen in your days or in the days of your fathers?

3 Concerning it, to your children, tell ye the story, —and your children, to their children, and their children, to the generation following: —

Talk this over with your sons, and your sons with their sons, and their sons with another generation.

4 That which was left by the creeping locust, hath the swarming locust eaten, and, that which was left by the swarming locust, hath the grass locust eaten; and, that which was left by the grass locust, hath the corn locust eaten.

The locust has eaten what the caterpillar has left, and the beetle has eaten what the locust has left, and the mildew has eaten what the beetle has left.

5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep, and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, —over the new wine, because it hath been cut off from your mouth.

Rouse yourselves, you drunkards, and weep and wail, all you who delight in drinking wine; for it has been cut off from your mouth.

6 For, a nation, hath come up over my land, bold, and without number, —his teeth, are the teeth of a lion, and, the fangs of a lioness, hath he!

For a nation has ascended over my land: strong and without number. His teeth are like the teeth of a lion, and his molars are like that of a lion’s young.

7 He hath turned my vine to a waste, and my fig-tree to splinters, —he hath, barked it clean, and cast it down, bleached are its branches.

He has put my vineyard into desolation, and he has pulled off the bark of my fig tree. He has stripped it bare and cast it away; its branches have become white.

8 Wail thou, like a virgin girded with sackcloth, for the owner of her youth.

Lament like a betrothed virgin, wrapped in sackcloth at the loss of the husband of her youth.

9 Cut off are the meal-offering and the drink-offering, from the house of Yahweh, —In grief are the priests, the attendants on Yahweh: —

Sacrifice and libation have perished from the house of the Lord; the priests who are ministers of the Lord have mourned.

10 Laid waste is the field, in grief is the soil, —for laid waste is the corn, abashed is the new wine, languisheth the oil.

The region has been depopulated, the soil has mourned. For the wheat has been devastated, the wine has been disfigured, the oil has languished.

11 Turn pale, ye husbandmen, howl, ye vinedressers, over the wheat, and over the barley, —for perished is the harvest of the field.

The farmers have been confounded, the vineyard workers have wailed over the crop and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.

12 The vine, is abashed, and, the fig-tree, languisheth, —pomegranate, palm also, and apple—all the trees of the field, have withered, Yea abashed is gladness, away from the sons of men.

The vineyard is in ruin, and the fig tree has languished. The pomegranate tree, and the palm tree, and the fruit tree, and all the trees of the field have withered. For joy has been thrown into disorder before the sons of men.

13 Gird yourselves and beat the breast—ye priests, howl, ye attendants of the altar, go in and wrap yourselves for the night in sackcloth, ye attendants on my God, —for, withholden from the house of your God, are the meal-offering and the drink- offering.

Priests, gird yourselves and lament. Ministers of the altars, wail. Enter, ministers of my God, lie in sackcloth. For sacrifice and libation have passed away from the house of your God.

14 Hallow ye a fast, Call a solemn assembly, Gather, O elders, all the inhabitants of the land, unto the house of Yahweh your God, —and make ye outcry unto Yahweh.

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

15 Alas for the day! For near is the day of Yahweh, and, as a veritable Destruction from the Destroyer, shall it come.

“Ah, ah, ah, the day!” For the day of the Lord is near, and it will arrive, like a devastation, before the powerful.

16 Is it not, before our eyes, that, food, hath been cut off? From the house of our God, rejoicing and exultation.

Has not your nourishment perished from before your eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

17 Rotted hath the seed, under their clods, Laid waste are their stores, Thrown down are the garners, —Yea abashed is the corn.

The mules have rotted in their own manure, the barns have been demolished, the wine cellars have been destroyed, because the grain has been ruined.

18 How do the beasts groan! Perplexed are the herds of oxen, because there is no pasture for them, —even, the flocks of sheep, are destroyed!

Why have the animals groaned, the herds of cattle bellowed? because there is no pasture for them. Yes, and even the flocks of sheep have been lost.

19 Unto thee, O Yahweh, will I cry, —for, a fire, hath consumed the pastures of the wilderness, and, a flame, hath set ablaze all the trees of the field.

To you, O Lord, I will cry out, because fire has devoured the beauty of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the countryside.

20 Even the beasts of the field, moan unto thee, —because dried up are the channels of water, and, a fire, hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Yes, and even the beasts of the field have gazed up at you, like the dry ground thirsting for rain, because the fountains of waters have dried up, and fire has devoured the beauty of the wilderness.