Joel 1
Easy-to-Read Version
Locusts Will Destroy the Crops
1 Joel son of Pethuel received this message from the Lord:
2 Leaders, listen to this message!
Listen to me, all you people who live in the land.
Has anything like this ever happened in your life?
Did anything like this happen during your fathers’ lifetime?
3 You will tell these things to your children,
and your children will tell their children,
and your grandchildren will tell the people of the next generation.
4 What the cutting locust[a] has left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
And what the swarming locust has left,
the hopping locust has eaten.
And what the hopping locust has left,
the destroying locust has eaten!
The Locusts—A Powerful Army
5 Drunks, wake up and cry!
All of you who drink wine, cry
because your sweet wine is finished.
You will not taste it again.
6 A powerful nation came to attack my land.
Its soldiers were too many to count.
Its weapons were as sharp as a lion’s teeth
and as powerful as a lion’s jaw.
7 It destroyed my grapevine.
Its good vines withered and died.
It destroyed my fig tree,
stripped off the bark and threw it away.
The People Cry
8 Cry like a young woman crying
because the man she was ready to marry has died.
9 Priests, servants of the Lord, cry
because there will be no more grain and drink offerings in the Lord’s Temple.
10 The fields are ruined.
Even the ground is crying
because the grain is destroyed;
the new wine is dried up,
and the olive oil is gone.
11 Be sad, farmers!
Cry loudly for the grapes,
for the wheat, and for the barley,
because the harvest in the field is ruined.
12 The vines have become dry,
and the fig tree is dying.
All the trees in the field—
the pomegranate, the palm, and the apple—have withered.
And happiness among the people has died.
13 Priests, put on sackcloth and cry loudly.
Servants of the altar, cry loudly.
Servants of my God, you will sleep in sackcloth,
because there will be no more grain and drink offerings in God’s Temple.
The Terrible Destruction of the Locusts
14 Tell the people that there will be a special time of fasting. Call them together for a special meeting. Bring the leaders and everyone living in the land together at the Temple of the Lord your God, and pray to the Lord.
15 Be sad because the Lord’s special day is near. At that time punishment will come like an attack from God All-Powerful. 16 Our food is gone. Joy and happiness are gone from the Temple of our God. 17 We planted seeds, but the seeds became dry and dead lying in the soil. Our plants are dry and dead. Our barns are empty and falling down.
18 The animals are hungry and groaning. The herds of cattle wander around confused because they have no grass to eat. The sheep are dying.[b] 19 Lord, I am calling to you for help. Fire has changed our green fields into a desert. Flames have burned all the trees in the field. 20 Wild animals also need your help. The streams are dry—there is no water! Fire has changed our green fields into a desert.
Joel 1
New King James Version
The Locust Plague in Judah
1 The word of the Lord that came to (A)Joel the son of Pethuel.
The Land Laid Waste(B)
2 Hear this, you elders,
And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land!
(C)Has anything like this happened in your days,
Or even in the days of your fathers?
3 (D)Tell your children about it,
Let your children tell their children,
And their children another generation.
4 (E)What the chewing [a]locust left, the (F)swarming locust has eaten;
What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten;
And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten.
5 Awake, you (G)drunkards, and weep;
And wail, all you drinkers of wine,
Because of the new wine,
(H)For it has been cut off from your mouth.
6 For (I)a nation has come up against My land,
Strong, and without number;
(J)His teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And he has the fangs of a [b]fierce lion.
7 He has (K)laid waste My vine,
And [c]ruined My fig tree;
He has stripped it bare and thrown it away;
Its branches are made white.
8 (L)Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth
For (M)the husband of her youth.
9 (N)The grain offering and the drink offering
Have been cut off from the house of the Lord;
The priests (O)mourn, who minister to the Lord.
10 The field is wasted,
(P)The land mourns;
For the grain is ruined,
(Q)The new wine is dried up,
The oil fails.
11 (R)Be ashamed, you farmers,
Wail, you vinedressers,
For the wheat and the barley;
Because the harvest of the field has perished.
12 (S)The vine has dried up,
And the fig tree has withered;
The pomegranate tree,
The palm tree also,
And the apple tree—
All the trees of the field are withered;
Surely (T)joy has withered away from the sons of men.
Mourning for the Land
13 (U)Gird yourselves and lament, you priests;
Wail, you who minister before the altar;
Come, lie all night in sackcloth,
You who minister to my God;
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Are withheld from the house of your God.
14 (V)Consecrate a fast,
Call (W)a sacred assembly;
Gather the elders
And (X)all the inhabitants of the land
Into the house of the Lord your God,
And cry out to the Lord.
15 (Y)Alas for the day!
For (Z)the day of the Lord is at hand;
It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.
16 Is not the food (AA)cut off before our eyes,
(AB)Joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 The seed shrivels under the clods,
Storehouses are in shambles;
Barns are broken down,
For the grain has withered.
18 How (AC)the animals groan!
The herds of cattle are restless,
Because they have no pasture;
Even the flocks of sheep [d]suffer punishment.
Joel 1
English Standard Version
1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
An Invasion of Locusts
2 (A)Hear this, (B)you elders;
give ear, (C)all inhabitants of the land!
(D)Has such a thing happened in your days,
or in the days of your fathers?
3 (E)Tell your children of it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children to another generation.
4 What (F)the cutting locust left,
(G)the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
(H)the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
(I)the destroying locust has eaten.
5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep,
and (J)wail, all you drinkers of wine,
because of (K)the sweet wine,
for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For (L)a nation has come up against my land,
(M)powerful and beyond number;
(N)its teeth are lions' teeth,
and it has the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid waste my vine
and splintered my (O)fig tree;
it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
their branches are made white.
8 Lament like a virgin[a] (P)wearing sackcloth
for the bridegroom of her youth.
9 (Q)The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
from the house of the Lord.
(R)The priests mourn,
(S)the ministers of the Lord.
10 The fields are destroyed,
(T)the ground mourns,
because (U)the grain is destroyed,
(V)the wine dries up,
the oil languishes.
11 (W)Be ashamed,[b] O tillers of the soil;
wail, O vinedressers,
for the wheat and the barley,
(X)because the harvest of the field has perished.
12 The vine dries up;
(Y)the fig tree languishes.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple,
all the trees of the field are dried up,
and (Z)gladness dries up
from the children of man.
A Call to Repentance
13 (AA)Put on sackcloth and lament, (AB)O priests;
(AC)wail, O ministers of the altar.
Go in, (AD)pass the night in sackcloth,
(AE)O ministers of my God!
(AF)Because grain offering and drink offering
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 (AG)Consecrate a fast;
(AH)call a solemn assembly.
Gather (AI)the elders
and (AJ)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!
(AK)For the day of the Lord is near,
and as destruction from the Almighty[c] it comes.
16 Is not the food cut off
before our eyes,
(AL)joy and gladness
from the house of our God?
17 (AM)The seed shrivels under the clods;[d]
the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
because (AN)the grain has dried up.
18 How (AO)the beasts groan!
The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
even the flocks of sheep suffer.[e]
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
