Joel 1

1 This is the word of Yahweh that came to Joel 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 anything like this happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors?

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 let your children tell their children, and their children the next 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; and 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 the sweet wine has been cut off from you.

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 upon my land, strong and without number. His teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the teeth 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 made my vineyard into a desolate place and has stripped my fig tree bare. He has stripped its bark and thrown it away; the branches are bare 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 death of her young husband.

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

9 The grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off from Yahweh's house. The priests, Yahweh's servants, 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 fields are ruined, the ground is mourning because the grain has been destroyed. The new wine has dried up, the oil fails.

The fields are blasted, the land is in mourning, for ruined is the grain, the new wine fails and the oil is dried up.

11 Be ashamed, you farmers, and wail, you vine growers, for the wheat and the barley. For the harvest of the fields has perished.

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

12 The vines have withered and the fig trees have dried up, the pomegranate trees, also the palm trees, and the apple trees— all the trees of the field have withered. For joy has withered away from the descendants of mankind.

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 servants of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you servants of my God. For the grain offering and the drink offering have been withheld from the house of your God.

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 Call for a holy fast, and call a holy assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of Yahweh your God, and cry to Yahweh.

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 Yahweh is almost here. With it will come destruction from the Almighty.

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

16 Has not food been cut off from before our eyes, and 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 rot under their clods, the granaries are desolate, and the barns have been broken down, for the grain has withered.

The grains shrivel under their hoes, the storehouses are desolate, the barns broken down, for the grain is withered.

18 How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are suffering because they have no pasture. Also, 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 Yahweh, I cry to you. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flames have burned all the trees of the fields.

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 Even the animals of the fields pant for you, for the water brooks have dried up, and 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.