Joel 1:13-20

GOD’S WORD Translation

¹³ Put on your sackcloth and mourn, you priests.
Cry loudly, you servants of the altar.
Spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God.
Grain offerings and wine offerings
are withheld from your God’s temple.
¹⁴ Schedule a time to fast!
Call for an assembly!
Gather the leaders and everyone who lives in the land.
Bring them to the temple of the Lord your God,
and cry to the Lord for help.

¹⁵ This will be a terrible day!
The day of the Lord is near,
and it will come like destruction from the Almighty.

¹⁶ Food disappears right before our eyes.
Happiness and rejoicing disappear from our God’s temple.
¹⁷ Seeds shrivel up in their shells.
Storehouses are destroyed.
Barns are ruined.
The grain has dried up.
¹⁸ The animals groan.
Herds of cattle wander around confused.
There’s no pasture for them.
Even flocks of sheep are suffering.

¹⁹ O Lord, I cry to you for help!
Fire has burned up the open pastures.
Flames have burned up all the trees in the orchards.
²⁰ Even wild animals long for you.
Streams run dry.
Fire has burned up the open pastures.