Joel 1

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.

Footnotes

Joel 1:4 Or migratory
Joel 1:6 Lit gone up against
Joel 1:10 Lit dried out
Joel 1:15 Heb Shaddai
Joel 1:17 Or dried figs
Joel 1:18 Lit suffered punishment
Joel 1:20 Or long for

Psalm 140-141

New American Standard Bible

Prayer for Protection against the Wicked.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

140 ^(A)Rescue me, Lord, from evil people;
Protect me from ^(B)violent men
²Who ^(C)devise evil things in their hearts;
They ^(D)continually stir up wars.
³They ^(E)sharpen their tongues like a snake;
^(F)The venom of a viper is under their lips. Selah

⁴^(G)Keep me, Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
^(H)Protect me from violent men
Who ^[a]intend to ^[b]^(I)trip up my feet.
⁵The proud have ^(J)hidden a trap for me, and snares;
They have spread a ^(K)net at the ^[c]wayside;
They have set ^(L)snares for me. Selah

⁶I ^(M)said to the Lord, “You are my God;
^(N)Listen, Lord, to the ^(O)sound of my pleadings.
⁷^[d]God the Lord, ^(P)the strength of my salvation,
You have ^(Q)covered my head on the day of ^[e]battle.
⁸Do not grant, Lord, the ^(R)desires of the wicked;
Do not bring about ^(S)his evil planning, so that they are not exalted. Selah

⁹“As for the head of those who surround me,
May the ^(T)harm of their lips cover them.
¹⁰May ^(U)burning coals fall upon them;
May they be ^(V)cast into the fire,
Into bottomless pits from which they ^(W)cannot rise.
¹¹May a ^[f]slanderer not endure on the earth;
^(X)May evil hunt a violent person ^[g]violently.”

¹²I know that the Lord will ^(Y)maintain the cause of the afflicted,
And ^(Z)justice for the poor.
¹³Certainly the ^(AA)righteous will give thanks to Your name;
The ^(AB)upright will dwell in Your presence.

An Evening Prayer for Sanctification and Protection.

A Psalm of David.

141 Lord, I call upon You; ^(AC)hurry to me!
^(AD)Listen to my voice when I call to You!
²May my prayer be ^[h]counted as ^(AE)incense before You;
The ^(AF)raising of my hands as the ^(AG)evening offering.
³Set a ^(AH)guard, Lord, ^[i]over my mouth;
Keep watch over the ^(AI)door of my lips.
⁴^(AJ)Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
To practice deeds ^[j]of wickedness
With people who ^(AK)do wrong;
And ^(AL)may I not taste their delicacies.

⁵May the ^(AM)righteous strike me with mercy and discipline me;
It is ^(AN)oil for the head;
My head shall not refuse it,
For my prayer ^(AO)is still against their evil deeds.
⁶Their judges are ^(AP)thrown down by the sides of the rock,
And they hear my words, for they are pleasant.
⁷As when one ^(AQ)plows and breaks open the earth,
Our ^(AR)bones have been scattered at the ^(AS)mouth of ^[k]Sheol.

⁸For my ^(AT)eyes are toward You, ^[l]God, the Lord;
In You I ^(AU)take refuge; ^(AV)do not ^[m]leave me defenseless.
⁹Keep me from the ^[n]^(AW)jaws of the trap which they have set for me,
And from the ^(AX)snares of those who do wrong.
¹⁰May the wicked ^(AY)fall into their own nets,
While I pass by ^[o]^(AZ)safely.