Joel 1

1 The Lord’s message that came to Joel, son of Pethuel.

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

2 Hear this, elders, pay attention, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days, or in the days of your ancestors?

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?

3 Recount it to your children; let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the generation that follows.

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

4 That which the cutting locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten, that which the swarming locust has left, the hopping locust has eaten, and that which the hopping locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.

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.

5 Awake, drunkards, and weep, and wail, all drinkers of wine; the new wine is cut off from your mouth.

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.

6 For a nation has come up on my land, powerful, and numberless; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and its jaw-teeth are like those of a lioness.

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.

7 It has laid waste my vines, and barked my fig tree; it has peeled and cast it away, bleached are the branches.

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.

8 Wail as a bride, clad in sack-cloth, for the husband of her youth.

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

9 Cut off are the cereal and drink-offerings from the house of the Lord; in mourning are the priests, who minister at the Lord’s altar.

The meat-offering and the drink-offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD'S ministers, mourn.

10 The fields are blasted, the land is in mourning, for ruined is the corn, the new wine fails and the oil is dried up.

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

11 Be dismayed, farmers; wail, vine-dressers. For the wheat and the barley; for the harvest is lost from the fields.

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.

12 The vine fails to bear fruit, and the fig tree is drooping; the pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are dried up. The people’s joy withers.

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.

13 Put on sackcloth, and beat your breasts, priests; wail, ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sack-cloth, ministers of God; for cereal-offering and drink-offering are cut off from the house of your God.

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.

14 Sanctify a fast, summon an assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, cry to the Lord:

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,

15 Alas for the day! Near at hand is the day of the Lord, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.

Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD [is] at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

16 Is not food cut off from before us, gladness and joy from the house of our God?

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

17 The grains shrivel under their hoes, the storehouses are desolate, the barns broken down, for the corn is withered.

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

18 How the herds of cattle bellow in distress, for they have no pasture! The flocks of sheep are forlorn.

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

19 To you, the Lord, I cry. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flame has scorched all the trees of the field.

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.

20 The wild animals also look up to you longingly, for the water-courses are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

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.