Mourning for the Land

13 (A)Gird yourselves and lament, you priests;
Wail, you who minister before the altar;
Come, lie all night in sackcloth,
You who minister to my God;
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Are withheld from the house of your God.
14 (B)Consecrate a fast,
Call (C)a sacred assembly;
Gather the elders
And (D)all the inhabitants of the land
Into the house of the Lord your God,
And cry out to the Lord.

15 (E)Alas for the day!
For (F)the day of the Lord is at hand;
It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.
16 Is not the food (G)cut off before our eyes,
(H)Joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 The seed shrivels under the clods,
Storehouses are in shambles;
Barns are broken down,
For the grain has withered.
18 How (I)the animals groan!
The herds of cattle are restless,
Because they have no pasture;
Even the flocks of sheep [a]suffer punishment.

19 O Lord, (J)to You I cry out;
For (K)fire has devoured the [b]open pastures,
And a flame has burned all the trees of the field.
20 The beasts of the field also (L)cry out to You,
For (M)the water brooks are dried up,
And fire has devoured the [c]open pastures.

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Notas al pie

  1. Joel 1:18 LXX, Vg. are made desolate
  2. Joel 1:19 Lit. pastures of the wilderness
  3. Joel 1:20 Lit. pastures of the wilderness

13 Gird yourselves and lament, O priests!
    Wail, O ministers of the altar!
Come spend the night in sackcloth,
    O ministers of my God,
because offering and libation
    are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Solemnize a fast!
    Call an assembly!
Gather the elders,
    all of the inhabitants of the land
in the house of Yahweh your God,
    and cry out to Yahweh.
15 Ah! For the day!
For the day of Yahweh is near.
    It will come like destruction from Shaddai.[a]
16 Is not food cut off
    before our eyes,
from the house of our God,
    joy and gladness?
17 The seeds shrivel under their clods;
    the storehouses are desolate.
The grain storage places are destroyed
    because grain has dried out.
18 How the beasts[b] groan;
    the herds of cattle wander around
because there is no pasture for them;
    the flocks of sheep are in distress.
19 To you, O Yahweh, I cry out,
because fire has devoured
    the pastures of the desert,
and flames[c] burned
    all the trees of the field.
20 Also, the beasts of the field
    long for you,
because the courses of water
    are dried up,
and fire has devoured
    the pastures of the desert.

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Notas al pie

  1. Joel 1:15 Often translated “the Almighty”
  2. Joel 1:18 Hebrew “beast”
  3. Joel 1:19 Hebrew “flame”