Joel 1

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

An Invasion of Locusts

2  Hear this, you elders;
give ear, all inhabitants of the land!
Has such a thing happened in your days,
or in the days of your fathers?
3  Tell your children of it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children to another generation.

4  What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
the destroying locust has eaten.

5  Awake, you drunkards, and weep,
and wail, all you drinkers of wine,
because of the sweet wine,
for it is cut off from your mouth.
6  For a nation has come up against my land,
powerful and beyond number;
its teeth are lions' teeth,
and it has the fangs of a lioness.
7  It has laid waste my vine
and splintered my fig tree;
it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
their branches are made white.

8  Lament like a virgint wearing sackcloth
for the bridegroom of her youth.
9  The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
from the house of the Lord.
The priests mourn,
the ministers of the Lord.
10  The fields are destroyed,
the ground mourns,
because the grain is destroyed,
the wine dries up,
the oil languishes.

11  Be ashamed,t O tillers of the soil;
wail, O vinedressers,
for the wheat and the barley,
because the harvest of the field has perished.
12  The vine dries up;
the fig tree languishes.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple,
all the trees of the field are dried up,
and gladness dries up
from the children of man.

A Call to Repentance

13  Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests;
wail, O ministers of the altar.
Go in, pass the night in sackcloth,
O ministers of my God!
Because grain offering and drink offering
are withheld from the house of your God.

14  Consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly.
Gather the elders
and all the inhabitants 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 near,
and as destruction from the Almightyt it comes.
16  Is not the food cut off
before our eyes,
joy and gladness
from the house of our God?

17  The seed shrivels under the clods;t
the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
because the grain has dried up.
18  How the beasts groan!
The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
even the flocks of sheep suffer.t

19  To you, O Lord, I call.
For fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness,
and flame has burned
all the trees of the field.
20  Even the beasts of the field pant for you
because the water brooks are dried up,
and fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness.

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