Yoel 1
Orthodox Jewish Bible
1 The Devar Hashem that came to Yoel Ben Petuel:
2 Hear this, ye zekenim, and give ear, all ye yoshvei ha’aretz (inhabitants of the land). Hath anything like this been in your days, or even in the days of your avot (fathers)?
3 Tell ye your banim (children) of it, and let your banim tell their banim, and their banim to the next generation.
4 That which the locust swarm hath left hath the arbeh (great locust) eaten; and that which the arbeh hath left hath the crawling locust eaten; and that which the crawling locust hath left hath the other locust eaten.
5 Awake, ye shikkorim (drunkards), and weep; and wail, all ye drinkers of yayin, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a Goy is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of an aryeh (lion), and he hath the fangs of a lioness.
7 He hath laid my gefen (vine) waste, and barked my teenah (fig tree); he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
8 Lament like a betulah girded with sackcloth for the ba’al (husband) of her youth.
9 The minchah and the nesekh is cut off from the Beis Hashem; the kohanim, the mesharetim (ministers) of Hashem, mourn.
10 The sadeh (field) is wasted, the adamah (land) mourneth; for the grain is wasted; the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.
11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen [i.e., farmers]; wail, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the katzir (harvest) of the sadeh is perished.
12 The gefen is dried up, and the teenah languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the sadeh, are withered; because sasson (joy) is withered away from the bnei Adam.
13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye kohanim; howl, ye mesharetim of the Mizbe’ach; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye mesharetim of my G-d; for the minchah and the nesekh is withheld from the Beis of your G-d [i.e., the Beis Hamikdash].
14 Sanctify ye a tzom (fast), call an atzarah (solemn assembly), gather the zekenim and all the yoshvei ha’aretz into the Beis Hashem Eloheichem, and cry unto Hashem,
15 Alas for the day! For the Yom Hashem [see Isa13: 9-13; Am 5:18-20; 8:9-14; Zeph 1:14-23 on the coming Day of the L-rd when Hashem intervenes to execute mishpat and righteousness] is karov (near, at hand), and like destruction from Shaddai shall it come.
16 Is not the okhel (food) cut off before our eyes, yea, simchah (joy) and gladness from the Beis Eloheinu [the Beis Hamikdash]?
17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the otzarot (storehouses) are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the grain is withered.
18 How do the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the edrei hatzon (flocks of sheep) are made desolate.
19 To Thee, Hashem, will I cry; for the eish hath devoured the pastures of the midbar, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
20 The beasts of the field cry also unto Thee; for the rivers of mayim (water) are dried up, and the eish hath devoured the pastures of the midbar.
Joel 1
Amplified Bible
1 The word of the Lord that came to [a]Joel, the son of Pethuel.
The Devastation of Locusts
2
Hear this, O elders,
Listen closely, all inhabitants of the land!
Has such a thing as this occurred in your days,
Or even in the days of your fathers?
3
Tell your children about it,
And let your children tell their children,
And their children the next generation.
4
What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten;
And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;
And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten [in judgment of Judah].
5
Awake [from your intoxication], you drunkards, and weep;
Wail, all you drinkers of wine,
Because of the [fresh] sweet wine
That is cut off from your mouth.
6
For a [pagan and hostile] nation has invaded My land [like locusts],
Mighty and without number;
Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And it has the fangs of a lioness.(A)
7
It has made My vine (My people) a waste and object of horror,
And splintered and broken My fig tree.
It has stripped them completely bare and thrown them away;
Their branches have become white.(B)
8
Wail like a virgin [bride] clothed with [b]sackcloth
For the bridegroom of her youth [who has died].
9
The [daily] grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
From the house of the Lord;
The priests mourn
Who minister to the Lord.
10
The field is ruined,
The ground mourns;
For the grain is ruined,
The new wine is dried up,
The fresh oil fails.
11
Be ashamed, O farmers;
Wail, O vinedressers,
For the wheat and for the barley,
Because the harvest of the field has perished.
12
The vine dries up
And the fig tree fails;
The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree,
All the trees of the field dry up,
Indeed, joy dries up and withdraws
From the sons of men.
13
Clothe yourselves with sackcloth
And lament (cry out in grief), O priests;
Wail, O ministers of the altar!
Come, spend the night in sackcloth [and pray without ceasing],
O ministers of my God,
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Are withheld from the house of your God.
Starvation and Drought
14
Consecrate a fast,
Proclaim 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 [in penitent pleadings].
15
Alas for the day!
For the [judgment] day of the Lord is at hand,
And it will come [upon the nation] as a destruction from the [c]Almighty.(C)
16
Has not the food been cut off before our eyes,
Joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17
The seeds [of grain] shrivel under the clods,
The storehouses are desolate and empty,
The barns are in ruins
Because the grain is dried up.
18
How the animals groan!
The herds of cattle are bewildered and wander aimlessly
Because they have no pasture;
Even the flocks of sheep suffer.
19
O Lord, I cry out to You,
For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
20
Even the wild animals pant [in longing] for You;
For the water brooks are dried up
And fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness.
Footnotes
- Joel 1:1 Joel was a prophet of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, and possibly a contemporary of Elisha. After the united kingdom divided, the Kingdom of Judah consisted primarily of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Judah continued to be ruled by the kings of the Davidic line. Jerusalem was the capital city of Judah. The name “Joel” means “The Lord is God.”
- Joel 1:8 A coarse cloth made from goat’s hair. It was worn as a sign of mourning or as an act of penitence.
- Joel 1:15 Heb Shaddai.
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