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
English Standard Version
1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
An Invasion of Locusts
2 (A)Hear this, (B)you elders;
give ear, (C)all inhabitants of the land!
(D)Has such a thing happened in your days,
or in the days of your fathers?
3 (E)Tell your children of it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children to another generation.
4 What (F)the cutting locust left,
(G)the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
(H)the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
(I)the destroying locust has eaten.
5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep,
and (J)wail, all you drinkers of wine,
because of (K)the sweet wine,
for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For (L)a nation has come up against my land,
(M)powerful and beyond number;
(N)its teeth are lions' teeth,
and it has the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid waste my vine
and splintered my (O)fig tree;
it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
their branches are made white.
8 Lament like a virgin[a] (P)wearing sackcloth
for the bridegroom of her youth.
9 (Q)The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
from the house of the Lord.
(R)The priests mourn,
(S)the ministers of the Lord.
10 The fields are destroyed,
(T)the ground mourns,
because (U)the grain is destroyed,
(V)the wine dries up,
the oil languishes.
11 (W)Be ashamed,[b] O tillers of the soil;
wail, O vinedressers,
for the wheat and the barley,
(X)because the harvest of the field has perished.
12 The vine dries up;
(Y)the fig tree languishes.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple,
all the trees of the field are dried up,
and (Z)gladness dries up
from the children of man.
A Call to Repentance
13 (AA)Put on sackcloth and lament, (AB)O priests;
(AC)wail, O ministers of the altar.
Go in, (AD)pass the night in sackcloth,
(AE)O ministers of my God!
(AF)Because grain offering and drink offering
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 (AG)Consecrate a fast;
(AH)call a solemn assembly.
Gather (AI)the elders
and (AJ)all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
15 Alas for the day!
(AK)For the day of the Lord is near,
and as destruction from the Almighty[c] it comes.
16 Is not the food cut off
before our eyes,
(AL)joy and gladness
from the house of our God?
17 (AM)The seed shrivels under the clods;[d]
the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
because (AN)the grain has dried up.
18 How (AO)the beasts groan!
The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
even the flocks of sheep suffer.[e]
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
