Joel 1

1 This is the word of Yahweh that came to Joel son of Pethuel.

The word of Yahweh, which came unto 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, ye elders, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land, —hath this ever happened in your days? or in the days of your fathers?

3 Tell your children about it, and let your children tell their children, and their children the next generation.

Concerning it, to your children, tell ye the story, —and your children, to their children, and their children, to the generation following: —

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 was left by the creeping locust, hath the swarming locust eaten, and, that which was left by the swarming locust, hath the grass locust eaten; and, that which was left by the grass locust, hath the corn locust 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, ye drunkards, and weep, and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, —over the new wine, because it hath been 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, hath come up over my land, bold, and without number, —his teeth, are the teeth of a lion, and, the fangs of a lioness, hath he!

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.

He hath turned my vine to a waste, and my fig-tree to splinters, —he hath, barked it clean, and cast it down, bleached are its branches.

8 Mourn like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the death of her young husband.

Wail thou, like a virgin girded with sackcloth, for the owner 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 meal-offering and the drink-offering, from the house of Yahweh, —In grief are the priests, the attendants on Yahweh: —

10 The fields are ruined, the ground is mourning because the grain has been destroyed. The new wine has dried up, the oil fails.

Laid waste is the field, in grief is the soil, —for laid waste is the corn, abashed is the new wine, languisheth the oil.

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

Turn pale, ye husbandmen, howl, ye vinedressers, over the wheat, and over the barley, —for perished is the harvest of the field.

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, is abashed, and, the fig-tree, languisheth, —pomegranate, palm also, and apple—all the trees of the field, have withered, Yea abashed is gladness, away from the sons of men.

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.

Gird yourselves and beat the breast—ye priests, howl, ye attendants of the altar, go in and wrap yourselves for the night in sackcloth, ye attendants on my God, —for, withholden from the house of your God, are the meal-offering and the drink- offering.

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.

Hallow ye a fast, Call a solemn assembly, Gather, O elders, all the inhabitants of the land, unto the house of Yahweh your God, —and make ye outcry unto Yahweh.

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! For near is the day of Yahweh, and, as a veritable Destruction from the Destroyer, shall it come.

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

Is it not, before our eyes, that, food, hath been cut off? From the house of our God, rejoicing and exultation.

17 The seeds rot under their clods, the granaries are desolate, and the barns have been broken down, for the grain has withered.

Rotted hath the seed, under their clods, Laid waste are their stores, Thrown down are the garners, —Yea abashed is the corn.

18 How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are suffering because they have no pasture. Also, the flocks of sheep suffer.

How do the beasts groan! Perplexed are the herds of oxen, because there is no pasture for them, —even, the flocks of sheep, are destroyed!

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.

Unto thee, O Yahweh, will I cry, —for, a fire, hath consumed the pastures of the wilderness, and, a flame, hath set ablaze 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.

Even the beasts of the field, moan unto thee, —because dried up are the channels of water, and, a fire, hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.