Joel 1:13-20
Expanded Bible
13 Priests, put on your ·rough cloth [sackcloth] and ·cry to show your sadness [mourn; lament].
·Servants [Ministers] of the altar, ·cry out loud [wail].
Servants of my God,
·keep your rough cloth on all night to show your sadness [spend the night in sackcloth].
Cry because there will be no more grain [L gift; tribute; Lev. 2:1] or drink offerings
to offer in the ·Temple [L house] of your God.
14 ·Call for [Declare; Appoint; Consecrate] a ·day when everyone fasts [fast]!
·Tell everyone to stop work [L Call a sacred assembly]!
·Bring [Assemble] the elders
and everyone who lives in the land
to the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
15 ·What a terrible day it will be [L Ah, for the day]!
The ·Lord’s day of judging [L day of the Lord] is near [2:1, 11, 31; Is. 13:6, 9; Jer. 46:10],
when ·punishment [destruction] will come
like a destroying attack from the Almighty [C “destroying” (shod) and “Almighty” (shaddai) are related words in Hebrew].
16 Our food is ·taken away [L cut off]
·while we watch [L in front of our eyes].
Joy and ·happiness [gladness] are gone
from the ·Temple [L house] of our God.
17 ·Though we planted fig seeds,
they lie dry and dead in the dirt [L The seed shrivels under the clods/or shovels].
The ·barns [storehouses] are ·empty and falling down [desolate].
The ·storerooms for grain [granaries] have been broken down,
because the grain has dried up.
18 The animals are groaning!
The herds of cattle ·wander around confused [mill about; are restless/distraught],
because they have no ·grass to eat [pasture];
even the flocks of sheep suffer.
19 Lord, I am calling to you for help,
because fire has ·burned up [devoured] the ·open [or wilderness] pastures,
and flames have burned all the trees in the field.
20 Wild animals ·also [even] ·need your help [cry out to you; long/pant for you].
The ·streams of water [water brooks; riverbeds] have dried up,
and fire has ·burned up [devoured] the ·open [or wilderness] pastures.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
