Joel 1

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

This is the word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel:

2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?

Hear this, O elders; and give ear, all who dwell in the land. Has anything like this ever happened 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 it to your children; let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.

4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.

What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.

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

Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth.

6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.

For a nation has invaded My land, powerful and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and its fangs are the fangs of a lioness.

7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath stripped it bare, and cast it away; its branches are made white.

It has laid waste My grapevine and splintered My fig tree. It has stripped off the bark and thrown it away; the branches have turned white.

8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

Wail like a virgin dressed in sackcloth, grieving for the husband of her youth.

9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD’S ministers, mourn.

Grain and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD.

10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the grain is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.

The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.

11 Be ye ashamed, O ye farmers; wail, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field hath perished.

Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.

12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.

The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, palm, and apple— all the trees of the orchard—are withered. Surely the joy of mankind has dried up.

13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: wail, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withheld from the house of your God.

Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.

14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry to the LORD,

Consecrate a fast; proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.

15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

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

Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes— joy and gladness from the house of our God?

17 The seed hath perished under their clods, the storehouses are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the grain is withered.

The seeds lie shriveled beneath the clods; the storehouses are in ruins; the granaries are broken down, for the grain has withered away.

18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

How the cattle groan! The herds wander in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

19 O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.

To You, O LORD, I call, for fire has consumed the open pastures and flames have scorched all the trees of the field.

20 The beasts of the field cry also to thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Even the beasts of the field pant for You, for the streams of water have dried up, and fire has consumed the open pastures.