Joel 1
Holman Christian Standard Bible
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 olive 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 an 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 shriveled in their casings.[b](AJ)
The storehouses are in ruin,
and the granaries are broken down,
because the grain 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 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 countryside.
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
Common English Bible
Song of lament
1 The Lord’s word that came to Joel, Pethuel’s son:
2 Hear this, elders;
pay attention, everyone in the land!
Has anything like this ever happened in your days,
or in the days of your ancestors?[a]
3 Tell it to your children,
and have your children tell their children,
and their children tell their children.
4 What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten.
And what the hopping locust left,
the devouring locust has eaten.[b]
5 Wake up, you who drink too much, and weep.
Scream over the sweet wine,
all you wine drinkers,
because it is snatched from your mouth;
6 because a nation, powerful and beyond number,
has invaded my land.
Its teeth are like lions’ teeth;
its fangs are like those of a lioness.
7 It has destroyed my vines,
splintered my fig trees,
stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
their branches have turned white.
8 Lament like a woman dressed in funeral clothing,
one who has lost the husband of her youth.
9 The grain offering and the drink offering are gone from the Lord’s temple.
The priests and the Lord’s ministers mourn.
10 The fields are devastated,
the ground mourns;
for the grain is destroyed,
the new wine dries up,
the olive oil fails.
11 Be shocked, you farmers;
howl, you vinedressers,
over the wheat and the barley,
for the crops of the field are destroyed.
12 The grapevine is dried up;
the fig tree withers.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple—
all the trees of the field are dried up.
Joy fades away from the people.[c]
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.[d]
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;[e]
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.
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