Joel 1:1-2:17

New American Standard Bible

The Devastation by Locusts

1 The ^(A)word of the Lord that came to ^(B)Joel, the son of Pethuel:

²^(C)Hear this, you ^(D)elders,
And listen, all inhabitants of the land.
^(E)Has anything like this happened in your days,
Or in your fathers’ days?
³^(F)Tell your sons about it,
And have your sons tell their sons,
And their sons the next generation.

⁴What the ^(G)gnawing locust has left, the ^[a]swarming locust has eaten;
And what the ^(H)swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;
And what the creeping locust has left, the ^(I)stripping locust has eaten.
⁵Awake, ^(J)you heavy drinkers, and weep;
And wail, all you wine drinkers,
Because of the sweet wine,
For it has been ^(K)eliminated from your mouth.
⁶For a ^(L)nation has ^[b]invaded my land,
Mighty and without number;
^(M)Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And it has the jaws of a lioness.
⁷It has ^(N)made my vine a waste
And my fig tree a stump.
It has stripped them bare and hurled them away;
Their branches have become white.

⁸^(O)Wail like a virgin ^(P)clothed with sackcloth
For the groom of her youth.
⁹The ^(Q)grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off
From the house of the Lord.
The ^(R)priests mourn,
The ministers of the Lord.
¹⁰The field is ^(S)ruined,
^(T)The land mourns;
For the grain is ruined,
The new wine has dried up,
Fresh oil has ^[c]failed.
¹¹^(U)Be ashamed, you farm workers,
Wail, you vinedressers,
For the wheat and the barley;
Because the ^(V)harvest of the field is destroyed.
¹²The ^(W)vine has dried up
And the fig tree has withered;
The ^(X)pomegranate, the ^(Y)palm also, and the ^(Z)apple tree,
All the trees of the field have dried up.
Indeed, ^(AA)joy has dried up
From the sons of mankind.

¹³^(AB)Put on sackcloth
And mourn, you priests;
^(AC)Wail, you ministers of the altar!
Come, ^(AD)spend the night in sackcloth,
You ministers of my God,
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Have been withheld from the house of your God.

Starvation and Drought

¹⁴^(AE)Consecrate a fast,
Proclaim a ^(AF)solemn assembly;
Gather the elders
And all the inhabitants of the land
To the house of the Lord your God,
And ^(AG)cry out to the Lord.
¹⁵^(AH)Woe for the day!
For the ^(AI)day of the Lord is near,
And it will come as ^(AJ)destruction from the ^[d]Almighty.
¹⁶Has ^(AK)food not been cut off before our eyes, and
Joy and ^(AL)rejoicing from the house of our God?
¹⁷The ^[e]^(AM)seeds have dried up under their shovels;
The storehouses have become desolate,
The grain silos are ruined,
Because the grain has dried up.
¹⁸How ^(AN)the animals have groaned!
The herds of cattle have wandered aimlessly
Because there is no pasture for them;
Even the flocks of sheep have ^[f]suffered.
¹⁹^(AO)To You, Lord, I cry out;
For ^(AP)fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
²⁰Even the animals of the field ^[g]^(AQ)pant for You;
For the ^(AR)stream beds of water are dried up,
And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

The Terrible Visitation

2 ^(AS)Blow a trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
For the ^(AT)day of the Lord is coming;
Indeed, it is near,
²A day of ^(AU)darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
As dawn is spread over the mountains,
So there is a ^(AV)great and mighty people;
There has ^(AW)never been anything like it,
Nor will there be again after it
To the years of many generations.
³A ^(AX)fire consumes before them,
And behind them a flame devours.
The land is ^(AY)like the Garden of Eden before them,
But a ^(AZ)desolate wilderness behind them,
And nothing at all escapes them.
⁴Their ^(BA)appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like war horses, so they run.
⁵^[h]With a ^(BB)noise as of chariots
They leap about on the tops of the mountains,
Like the ^[i]crackling of a ^(BC)flame of fire consuming the stubble,
Like a mighty people drawn up for battle.
⁶Before them the people are in ^(BD)anguish;
All ^(BE)faces ^[j]turn pale.
⁷They run like warriors,
They climb the wall like soldiers;
And each of them ^(BF)marches ^[k]in line,
Nor do they lose their way.
⁸They do not crowd each other,
Every warrior of them marches in his path;
When they ^[l]burst through the ^[m]defenses,
They do not break ranks.
⁹They storm the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the ^(BG)houses,
They ^(BH)enter through the windows like a thief.
¹⁰Before them the earth ^(BI)quakes,
The heavens tremble,
The ^(BJ)sun and the moon become dark,
And the stars lose their brightness.
¹¹The Lord ^(BK)utters His voice before ^(BL)His army;
His camp is indeed very great,
For ^(BM)mighty is one who carries out His word.
The ^(BN)day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome,
And ^(BO)who can endure it?
¹²“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“^(BP)Return to Me with all your heart,
And with ^(BQ)fasting, weeping, and mourning;
¹³And ^(BR)tear your heart and not merely ^(BS)your garments.”
Now return to the Lord your God,
For He is ^(BT)gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in mercy
And ^(BU)relenting of catastrophe.
¹⁴Who knows, ^(BV)He might turn and relent,
And leave a ^(BW)blessing behind Him,
Resulting in ^(BX)a grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God.
¹⁵^(BY)Blow a trumpet in Zion,
^(BZ)Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,
¹⁶Gather the people, ^(CA)sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and the nursing infants.
Have the ^(CB)groom come out of his room
And the bride out of her bridal chamber.
¹⁷Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers,
Weep ^(CC)between the porch and the altar,
And let them say, “^[n]^(CD)Spare Your people, Lord,
And do not make Your inheritance a ^(CE)disgrace,
With the nations jeering at them.
Why should those among the peoples say,
‘^(CF)Where is their God?’”