Joel 1:13-20
English Standard Version
A Call to Repentance
13 (A)Put on sackcloth and lament, (B)O priests;
(C)wail, O ministers of the altar.
Go in, (D)pass the night in sackcloth,
(E)O ministers of my God!
(F)Because grain offering and drink offering
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 (G)Consecrate a fast;
(H)call a solemn assembly.
Gather (I)the elders
and (J)all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
15 Alas for the day!
(K)For the day of the Lord is near,
and as destruction from the Almighty[a] it comes.
16 Is not the food cut off
before our eyes,
(L)joy and gladness
from the house of our God?
17 (M)The seed shrivels under the clods;[b]
the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
because (N)the grain has dried up.
18 How (O)the beasts groan!
The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
even the flocks of sheep suffer.[c]
19 To you, (P)O Lord, I call.
(Q)For fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness,
(R)and flame has burned
all the trees of the field.
20 Even the beasts of the field (S)pant for you
because the water brooks are dried up,
(T)and fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness.
Joel 1:13-20
Common English Bible
Call to mourn
13 Dress for a funeral and grieve, you priests;
lament, ministers of the altar.
Come, spend the night in funeral clothing, servants of my God,
because the grain offering and the drink offering
have gone from the temple of your God.
14 Demand a fast,
request a special assembly.
Gather the elders
and all the land’s people
to the temple of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
Time of suffering
15 What a terrible day!
The day of the Lord is near;
it comes like chaos from the Almighty.[a]
16 Isn’t the food cut off
right before our eyes?
Aren’t joy and gladness also gone from our God’s house?
17 The grain shrivels under the shovels;[b]
the barns are empty.
The granaries are in ruin
because the grain has dried up.
18 How the animals groan!
Herds of cattle are in distress
because there is no pasture for them;
even the flocks of sheep pant.
The prophet’s prayer
19 To you, Lord, I cry,
for fire has completely destroyed
the pastures of the wilderness;
and flames have burned
all the trees of the field.
20 Even the field’s wild animals cry to you
because the streams have dried up;
the fire has completely destroyed
the meadows of the wilderness.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible