1The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Pethuel.
An invasion of locusts
2Hear this, you elders; listen, all who live in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors?3Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.4What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts[1] have eaten.5Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine; wail because of the new wine, for it has been snatched from your lips.6A nation has invaded my land, a mighty army without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness.7It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig-trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white.8Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the betrothed of her youth.9Grain offerings and drink offerings are cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests are in mourning, those who minister before the Lord.10The fields are ruined, the ground is dried up; the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the olive oil fails.11Despair, you farmers, wail, you vine growers; grieve for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field is destroyed.12The vine is dried up and the fig-tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm and the apple[2] tree – all the trees of the field – are dried up. Surely the people’s joy is withered away.
A call to lamentation
13Put on sackcloth, you priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.14Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.15Alas for that day! For the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.[3]16Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes – joy and gladness from the house of our God?17The seeds are shrivelled beneath the clods.[4] The storehouses are in ruins, the granaries have been broken down, for the grain has dried up.18How the cattle moan! The herds mill about because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep are suffering.19To you, Lord, I call, for fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.20Even the wild animals pant for you; the streams of water have dried up and fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness.
Joel 1
English Standard Version
1The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
An Invasion of Locusts
2Hear 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? (Ho 5:1; Joe 1:14; Joe 2:2)3Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. (Ps 78:4)4What 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. (Ex 10:4; Ps 78:46; Ps 105:34; Joe 2:25; Am 4:9; Am 7:1; Na 3:15)5Awake, you drunkards, and weep, and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth. (Isa 24:11; Isa 49:26; Joe 3:18; Am 9:13)6For 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. (Joe 2:2; Re 9:7)7It 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. (Joe 1:12)8Lament like a virgin[1] wearing sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth. (2Sa 3:31; Joe 1:13)9The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests mourn, the ministers of the Lord. (Isa 61:6; Eze 45:4; Joe 1:13; Joe 2:14; Joe 2:17)10The fields are destroyed, the ground mourns, because the grain is destroyed, the wine dries up, the oil languishes. (Ho 2:9; Ho 4:3)11Be ashamed,[2] O tillers of the soil; wail, O vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. (Jer 14:4; Joe 1:17)12The 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. (Isa 24:11; Jer 48:33; Joe 1:7)
A Call to Repentance
13Put 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. (Jer 4:8; Joe 1:8; Joe 1:9; Joe 2:14; Mic 1:8)14Consecrate 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. (2Ch 20:3; Joe 1:2; Joe 2:15)15Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty[3] it comes. (Isa 13:6; Isa 13:9; Jer 46:10; Eze 30:2; Joe 2:1; Joe 2:11; Joe 2:31; Joe 3:14; Am 5:18; Ob 1:15; Zep 1:14; Zec 14:1; 2Pe 3:10)16Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God? (De 12:6; De 16:14)17The seed shrivels under the clods;[4] the storehouses are desolate; the granaries are torn down because the grain has dried up. (Joe 1:11; Mal 2:3)18How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep suffer.[5] (Jer 12:4; Ho 4:3; Joe 2:22)19To you, O Lord, I call. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flame has burned all the trees of the field. (Ps 50:15; Jer 9:10)20Even the beasts of the field pant for you because the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness. (Job 38:41; Ps 104:21; Ps 145:15; Joe 1:19)