Joel 1:13-20

New International Reader's Version

A Call to Mourn

¹³Priests, put on the clothing of sadness and mourn.
    Cry, you who serve at the altar.
Come, you who serve my God in the temple.
    Spend the night dressed in the clothes of sadness.
Weep because no one brings grain offerings and drink offerings
    to the house of your God anymore.
¹⁴Announce a holy fast.
    Tell the people not to eat anything.
    Gather them together for a special service.
Send for the elders
    and all who live in the land.
Have them come to the house of the Lord your God.
    And pray to him.

¹⁵The day of the Lord is near.
How sad it will be on that day!
The Mighty One is coming to destroy you.

¹⁶Our food has been taken away
    right in front of our eyes.
There isn’t any joy or gladness
    in the house of our God.
¹⁷The seeds have dried up in the ground.
    The grain is also gone.
The storerooms have been destroyed.
    The barns are broken down.
¹⁸Listen to the cattle groan!
    The herds wander around.
They don’t have any grass to eat.
    The flocks of sheep are also suffering.

¹⁹Lord, I call out to you.
    Fire has burned up the desert grasslands.
    Flames have destroyed all the trees in the fields.
²⁰Even the wild animals cry out to you for help.
    The streams of water have dried up.
    Fire has burned up the desert grasslands.