Joel 1
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
1 The word of the Lord that came(A) to Joel son of Pethuel:
A Plague of Locusts
2 Hear this,(B) you elders;
listen, all you inhabitants of the land.
Has anything like this ever happened in your days(C)
or in the days of your ancestors?
3 Tell your children about it,(D)
and let your children tell their children,
and their children the next generation.
4 What the devouring locust(E) has left,
the swarming locust has eaten;
what the swarming locust has left,
the young locust(F) has eaten;
and what the young locust has left,
the destroying locust(G) has eaten.
5 Wake up, you drunkards,(H) and weep;
wail, all you wine drinkers,
because of the sweet wine,
for it has been taken from your mouth.
6 For a nation has invaded my land,(I)
powerful and without number;
its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
and it has the fangs of a lioness.(J)
7 It has devastated my grapevine
and splintered my fig tree.
It has stripped off its bark and thrown it away;
its branches have turned white.
8 Grieve like a young woman dressed in sackcloth,(K)
mourning for the husband of her youth.
9 Grain and drink offerings have been cut off(L)
from the house of the Lord;
the priests, who are ministers of the Lord, mourn.(M)
10 The fields are destroyed;(N)
the land grieves;
indeed, the grain is destroyed;
the new wine is dried up;(O)
and the fresh oil fails.(P)
11 Be ashamed, you farmers,(Q)
wail, you vinedressers,[a]
over the wheat and the barley,
because the harvest of the field has perished.(R)
12 The grapevine is dried up,(S)
and the fig tree is withered;
the pomegranate,(T) the date palm,(U) and the apple(V) –
all the trees of the orchard – have withered.
Indeed, human joy has dried up.(W)
13 Dress in sackcloth and lament,(X) you priests;(Y)
wail,(Z) you ministers of the altar.
Come and spend the night in sackcloth,(AA)
you ministers of my God,
because grain and drink offerings
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Announce a sacred fast;(AB)
proclaim a solemn assembly!
Gather the elders(AC)
and all the residents of the land
at the house of the Lord your God,(AD)
and cry out to the Lord.(AE)
The Day of the Lord
15 Woe because of that day!(AF)
For the day of the Lord is near
and will come as devastation from the Almighty.(AG)
16 Hasn’t the food been cut off
before our eyes,(AH)
joy and gladness(AI)
from the house of our God?
17 The seeds lie shrivelled in their casings.[b](AJ)
The storehouses are in ruin,
and the granaries are broken down,
because the corn has withered away.
18 How the animals groan!(AK)
The herds of cattle wander in confusion
since they have no pasture.
Even the flocks of sheep and goats suffer punishment.
19 I call to you, Lord,(AL)
for fire has consumed
the pastures of the wilderness,(AM)
and flames have devoured
all the trees of the orchard.
20 Even the wild animals cry out to[c] you,(AN)
for the river beds are dried up,(AO)
and fire has consumed
the pastures of the wilderness.
Joel 1
Tree of Life Version
1 The word of Adonai that came to Joel the son of Pethuel:
Mourn the Land’s Destruction
2 Hear this, elders!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the land.
Has this ever happened in your days,
or even in the days of your fathers?
3 Tell your children about it—
your children to their children,
their children to another generation.
4 What the locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten,
and what the swarming locust left,
the canker-worm has eaten,
and what the canker-worm left,
the caterpillar has eaten.
5 Awake, drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you drinkers of wine—
on account of sweet wine,
for it is denied to your mouth!
6 For a nation has invaded my land.
Vast—yes, without number!
Its teeth are lion’s teeth,
with jaw-teeth of a lioness.[a]
7 He has turned my vine to waste
and my fig tree to splinters.
He has stripped off all the bark
and flung it down—
its branches are left white.
8 Wail like a virgin dressed in sackcloth
for the husband of her youth!
9 Grain offering and drink offering
are cut off from the House of Adonai.
Kohanim—ministers of Adonai—mourn.
10 The field is ruined, the land grieves,
for the grain has been devastated,
new wine is dried up, oil languishes.
11 Be ashamed, O ploughmen;
wail, O vinedressers,
over wheat and over barley,
for the harvest of the field is lost.
12 The vine withered, the fig tree wilted.
Pomegranate, palm and apple tree
—all trees of the field—are withered,
for joy has withered away
from the children of men.
13 Gird yourselves and weep, kohanim!
Howl, ministers of the altar!
Come, lie in sackcloth all night,
ministers of my God.
For grain and drink offering are withheld
from the House of your God.
The Day is Near!
14 Consecrate a fast.
Proclaim a solemn assembly.
Gather elders and all living in the land
to the House of Adonai your God,
and cry to Adonai.
15 Ah, the day!
The day of Adonai is near!
As havoc from Shaddai it will come.
16 Is food not cut off before our eyes—
joy and gladness from God’s House?
17 Seed has shriveled under the dirt clod.
Storehouses are desolate,
granaries are torn down,
for the grain has withered.
18 How the animals groan!
The herds of cattle are perplexed,
because they have no pasture.
The flocks of sheep also suffer.
19 To You, Adonai, I cry!
For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
and flame has set ablaze all the trees of the field.
20 Also beasts of the field pant toward You.
For the water of wadis are dried up,
and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
Footnotes
- Joel 1:6 cf. Rev. 9:7-8.
Copyright © 2024 by Holman Bible Publishers.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.