A Call to Repentance

13 (A)Put on sackcloth and lament, (B)O priests;
    (C)wail, O ministers of the altar.
Go in, (D)pass the night in sackcloth,
    (E)O ministers of my God!
(F)Because grain offering and drink offering
    are withheld from the house of your God.

14 (G)Consecrate a fast;
    (H)call a solemn assembly.
Gather (I)the elders
    and (J)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!
(K)For the day of the Lord is near,
    and as destruction from the Almighty[a] it comes.
16 Is not the food cut off
    before our eyes,
(L)joy and gladness
    from the house of our God?

17 (M)The seed shrivels under the clods;[b]
    the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
    because (N)the grain has dried up.
18 How (O)the beasts groan!
    The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
    even the flocks of sheep suffer.[c]

19 To you, (P)O Lord, I call.
(Q)For fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness,
(R)and flame has burned
    all the trees of the field.
20 Even the beasts of the field (S)pant for you
    because the water brooks are dried up,
(T)and fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness.

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Footnotes

  1. Joel 1:15 Destruction sounds like the Hebrew for Almighty
  2. Joel 1:17 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain
  3. Joel 1:18 Or are made desolate

A Call to Repentance and Prayer

13 Put on sackcloth and lament, you priests;
    wail, you ministers of the altar.
Come, pass the night in sackcloth,
    you ministers of my God!
Grain offering and drink offering
    are withheld from the house of your God.(A)

14 Consecrate a fast;
    call a solemn assembly.
Gather the elders
    and all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
    and cry out to the Lord.(B)

15 Alas for the day!
For the day of the Lord is near,
    and as destruction from the Almighty[a] it comes.(C)
16 Is not the food cut off
    before our eyes,
joy and gladness
    from the house of our God?(D)

17 The seed shrivels under the clods;[b]
    the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are ruined
    because the grain has withered.
18 How the animals groan!
    The herds of cattle wander about
because there is no pasture for them;
    even the flocks of sheep are perishing.(E)

19 To you, O Lord, I cry,
for fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness,
and flames have burned
    all the trees of the field.(F)
20 Even the wild animals cry to you
    because the watercourses are dried up,
and fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. 1.15 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
  2. 1.17 Meaning of Heb uncertain