Joel 1

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

The Lord sent a message through 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?

Listen to this, elders; pay attention, everyone who lives in the land. Has anything ever happened like this before in your experience, or that of your forefathers?

3 Tell ye your children of it, and [let] your children [tell] their children, and their children another generation.

Tell your children about it, and have your children tell it to their children, and their children tell the next generation.

4 That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten; and that which the canker-worm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten.

What the cutting locusts left, the swarming locusts have eaten; what the swarming locusts left, the hopping locusts have eaten; what the hopping locusts left, the destroying locusts have eaten.

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

Wake up, you drunks, and weep! Howl you wine-drinkers, because the new wine has been suddenly taken away 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.

A nation has invaded my land: powerful and too many to count. Their teeth are like lion's teeth, their fangs like those of a lioness.

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

It has ruined my grapevines and destroyed my fig trees, stripping them completely and reducing them to stumps, white and bare.

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

Mourn like a bride dressed in sackcloth, mourning the death of her husband-to-be.

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 wine offerings have stopped in the Temple. The priests who minister before the Lord are in mourning.

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

The fields are devastated, the earth mourns; for the grain is ruined, the new wine dries up, the olive oil fails.

11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vine-dressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field hath perished.

Be ashamed, farmers, and wail in sorrow, keepers of vineyards, over the wheat and the barley, for the crops from the fields are ruined.

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 vines are shriveled, the fig trees are withered; the pomegranate, the palm, and the apricot trees—all the fruit trees have dried up, and at the same time the people's happiness has also dried up.

13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, 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.

Dress in sackcloth, you priests, and mourn; weep, you who minister before the altar! Go and spend the night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, for the grain and wine offerings have stopped in the Temple.

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,

Proclaim a fast; call a sacred assembly. Have the elders and all people of the land gather in the Temple, and cry out to your God, 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.

What a terrible day! For the day of the Lord is near, 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?

Haven't we seen our food taken away from us, right before our eyes? There is no joy and happiness in God's Temple.

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

Seeds planted in the ground shrivel up; the storehouses are empty, the barns are torn down because the grain has dried up.

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

The farm animals moan with hunger. The herds of cattle wander everywhere because they can't find grass to eat; 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, Lord, I cry out! For fire has destroyed the pastures in the wilderness; flames have burned up all the orchards.

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 wild animals long for you because the streams have dried up, and fire has destroyed the pastures in the wilderness.