Joel 1

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

This is the word of Yahweh 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, 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?

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 let your children tell their children, and their children 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 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.

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 drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine, because the sweet wine has been cut off from you.

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 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.

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

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.

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

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

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

The grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off from Yahweh's house. The priests, Yahweh's servants, mourn.

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

11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.

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

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 withholden from the house of your God.

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.

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 unto the LORD,

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.

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 Yahweh is almost here. With it will come destruction from the Almighty.

16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, [yea], joy and gladness from the house of our God?

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

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

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

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

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.

Yahweh, I cry to you. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flames have burned all the trees of the fields.

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

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.