Joel 1

Introduction

1 Thiss is the Lord’s messaget that was givent
to Joels the son of Pethuel:

A Locust Plague Foreshadows the Day of the Lord

2 Listen to this, you elders;s
pay attention,t all inhabitants of the land.
Has anything like this ever happened in your whole lifet
or in the lifetimet of your ancestors?t

3 Tell your childrent about it,
have your children tell their children,
and their children the following generation.s

4 What the gazam-locust left the ‘arbeh-locust consumed,t
what the ‘arbeh-locust left the yeleq-locust consumed,
and what the yeleq-locust left the hasil-locust consumed!ts

5 Wake up, you drunkards,s and weep!
Wail, all you wine drinkers,s
because the sweet winet has been taken awayt from you.t

6 For a nations has invadedt ourt land.
There are so many of them they are too numerous to count.t
Their teeth are like thoset of a lion;
they tear apart their prey like a lioness.t

7 Theyt have destroyed ourt vines;t
they have turned ourt fig trees into mere splinters.
They have completely stripped off the barkt and thrown them aside;
thet twigs are stripped bare.ts

A Call to Lament

8 Wails like a young virgint clothed in sackcloth,
lamenting the death oft her husband-to-be.s

9 No one brings grain offerings or drink offerings
to the templet of the Lord anymore.t
So the priests, those who serve the Lord, are in mourning.

10 The crops of the fieldst have been destroyed.t
The ground is in mourning because the grain has perished.
The fresh wine has dried up;
the olive oil languishes.

11 Be distressed,t farmers;
wail, vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley.
For the harvest of the field has perished.

12 The vine has dried up;
the fig tree languishes –
the pomegranate, date, and applet as well.
In fact,t all the trees of the field have dried up.
Indeed, the joy of the peoplet has dried up!

13 Get dressedt and lament, you priests!
Wail, you who minister at the altar!
Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God,
because no one brings grain offerings or drink offerings
to the temple of your God anymore.t

14 Announce a holy fast;t
proclaim a sacred assembly.
Gather the elders ands all the inhabitants of the land
to the temple of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.

15 How awful that day will be!t
For the day of the Lord is near;
it will come as destruction from the Divine Destroyer.t

16 Our food has been cut off right before our eyes!t
There is no longer any joy or gladness in the temple of our God!t

17 The grains of seedt have shriveled beneath their shovels.st
Storehouses have been decimated
and granaries have been torn down, for the grain has dried up.

18 Listen to the cattle groan!t
The herds of livestock wander around in confusiont
because they have no pasture.
Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

19 To you, O Lord, I call out for help,t
for fires has burned upt the grassy pastures,t
flames have razedt all the trees in the fields.

20 Even the wild animalst cry out to you;t
for the river bedst have dried up;
fire has destroyedt the grassy pastures.t

JOEL 1

1 I am Joel the son of Pethuel.
And this is the message
the [Lord] gave to me.

Locusts Cover the Land

2 Listen, you leaders
and everyone else
in the land.
Has anything like this
ever happened before?

3 Tell our children!
Let it be told
to our grandchildren
and their children too.

4 Swarm after swarm of locustst
has attacked our crops,
eating everything in sight.

5 Sober up, you drunkards!
Cry long and loud;
your wine supply is gone.

6  t A powerful nationt
with countless troops
has invaded our land.
They have the teeth and jaws
of powerful lions.

7 Our grapevines and fig trees
are stripped bare;
only naked branches remain.

8 Grieve like a young woman
mourning for the man
she was to marry.

9 Offerings of grain and wine
are no longer brought
to the [Lord]'s temple.
His servants, the priests,
are deep in sorrow.

10 Barren fields mourn;
grain, grapes, and olives
are scorched and shriveled.

11 Mourn for our farms
and our vineyards!
There's no wheat or barley
growing in our fields.

12 Grapevines have dried up
and so has every tree—
figs and pomegranates, t
date palms and apples.
All happiness has faded away.

Return to God

13 Mourn, you priests who serve
at the altar of my God.
Spend your days and nights
wearing sackcloth.t
Offerings of grain and wine
are no longer brought
to the [Lord]'s temple.

14 Tell the leaders and people
to come together
at the temple.
Order them to go without eatingt
and to pray sincerely.

15  t We are in for trouble!
Soon the [Lord] All-Powerful
will bring disaster.

16 Our food is already gone;
there's no more celebrating
at the temple of our God.

17 Seeds dry up in the ground;t
no harvest is possible.
Our barns are in bad shape,
with no grain
to store in them.

18 Our cattle wander aimlessly,
moaning for lack of pasture,
and sheep are suffering.t

19 I cry out to you, [Lord].
Grasslands and forests are eaten
by the scorching heat.

20 Wild animals have no water
because of you;
rivers and streams are dry,
and pastures are parched.