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Yahweh’s[a] word that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.

Hear this, you elders,
    And listen, all you inhabitants of the land.
Has this ever happened in your days,
    or in the days of your fathers?
Tell your children about it,
    and have your children tell their children,
    and their children, another generation.
What the swarming locust has left, the great locust has eaten.
    What the great locust has left, the grasshopper has eaten.
    What the grasshopper has left, the caterpillar has eaten.
Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
    Wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine;
    for it is cut off from your mouth.
For a nation has come up on my land, strong, and without number.
    His teeth are the teeth of a lion,
    and he has the fangs of a lioness.
He has laid my vine waste,
    and stripped my fig tree.
    He has stripped its bark, and thrown it away.
    Its branches are made white.
Mourn like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth! The meal offering and the drink offering are cut off from Yahweh’s house.
    The priests, Yahweh’s ministers, mourn.
10 The field is laid waste.
    The land mourns, for the grain is destroyed,
    The new wine has dried up,
    and the oil languishes.
11 Be confounded, you farmers!
    Wail, you vineyard keepers;
    for the wheat and for the barley;
    for the harvest of the field has perished.
12 The vine has dried up, and the fig tree withered;
    the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree,
    even all of the trees of the field are withered;
    for joy has withered away from the sons of men.
13 Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests!
    Wail, you ministers of the altar.
Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God,[b]
    for the meal offering and the drink offering are withheld from your God’s house.
14 Sanctify a fast.
    Call a solemn 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 Yahweh is at hand,
    and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
16 Isn’t the food cut off before our eyes,
    joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 The seeds rot under their clods.
    The granaries are laid desolate.
    The barns are broken down, for the grain has withered.
18 How the animals groan!
    The herds of livestock are perplexed, because they have no pasture.
    Yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
19 Yahweh, I cry to you,
    For the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
    and the flame has burned all the trees of the field.
20 Yes, the animals of the field pant to you,
    for the water brooks have dried up,
    And the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Footnotes

  1. 1:1 “Yahweh” is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” (all caps) in other translations.
  2. 1:13 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).

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

Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. That which [a]the palmer-worm hath left hath [b]the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath [c]the canker-worm eaten; and that which the canker-worm hath left hath [d]the caterpillar eaten.

Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and wail, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the jaw-teeth of a lioness. He hath laid my vine waste, and [e]barked my fig-tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it [f]away; the branches thereof are made white.

Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. The meal-offering and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of Jehovah; the priests, Jehovah’s ministers, mourn. 10 The field is laid waste, the land mourneth; for the grain is destroyed, the new wine is [g]dried up, the oil languisheth. 11 [h]Be confounded, O ye husbandmen, wail, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; for the harvest of the field is perished. 12 The vine is [i]withered, 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: for joy is [j]withered away from the sons of men.

13 Gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament, ye priests; wail, ye ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meal-offering and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God. 14 Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the [k]old men and all the inhabitants of the land unto the house of Jehovah your God, and cry unto Jehovah.

15 Alas for the day! for the day of Jehovah is at hand, and as destruction from [l]the Almighty shall it come. 16 Is not the food cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? 17 The seeds [m]rot under their clods; the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the grain is [n]withered. 18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep [o]are made desolate. 19 O Jehovah, to thee do I cry; for the fire hath devoured the [p]pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. 20 Yea, the beasts of the field pant unto thee; for the water brooks are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the [q]pastures of the wilderness.

Footnotes

  1. Joel 1:4 Probably, different kinds of locusts, or locusts in different stages of growth.
  2. Joel 1:4 Probably, different kinds of locusts, or locusts in different stages of growth.
  3. Joel 1:4 Probably, different kinds of locusts, or locusts in different stages of growth.
  4. Joel 1:4 Probably, different kinds of locusts, or locusts in different stages of growth.
  5. Joel 1:7 Or, broken
  6. Joel 1:7 Or, down
  7. Joel 1:10 Or, ashamed
  8. Joel 1:11 Or, The husbandmen are confounded, the vinedressers wail
  9. Joel 1:12 Or, ashamed
  10. Joel 1:12 Or, ashamed
  11. Joel 1:14 Or, elders
  12. Joel 1:15 Hebrew Shaddai.
  13. Joel 1:17 Or, shrivel
  14. Joel 1:17 Or, ashamed
  15. Joel 1:18 Or, suffer punishment
  16. Joel 1:19 Or, folds
  17. Joel 1:20 Or, folds