13 (A)Put on sackcloth
And mourn, you priests;
(B)Wail, you ministers of the altar!
Come, (C)spend the night in sackcloth,
You ministers of my God,
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Have been withheld from the house of your God.

Starvation and Drought

14 (D)Consecrate a fast,
Proclaim a (E)solemn assembly;
Gather the elders
And all the inhabitants of the land
To the house of the Lord your God,
And (F)cry out to the Lord.
15 (G)Woe for the day!
For the (H)day of the Lord is near,
And it will come as (I)destruction from the [a]Almighty.
16 Has (J)food not been cut off before our eyes, and
Joy and (K)rejoicing from the house of our God?
17 The [b](L)seeds have dried up under their shovels;
The storehouses have become desolate,
The grain silos are ruined,
Because the grain has dried up.
18 How (M)the animals have groaned!
The herds of cattle have wandered aimlessly
Because there is no pasture for them;
Even the flocks of sheep have [c]suffered.
19 (N)To You, Lord, I cry out;
For (O)fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the animals of the field [d](P)pant for You;
For the (Q)stream beds of water are dried up,
And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

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Footnotes

  1. Joel 1:15 Heb Shaddai
  2. Joel 1:17 Or dried figs
  3. Joel 1:18 Lit suffered punishment
  4. Joel 1:20 Or long for

13 Gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament, ye priests; wail, ye ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meal-offering and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God. 14 Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the [a]old men and all the inhabitants of the land unto the house of Jehovah your God, and cry unto Jehovah.

15 Alas for the day! for the day of Jehovah is at hand, and as destruction from [b]the Almighty shall it come. 16 Is not the food cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? 17 The seeds [c]rot under their clods; the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the grain is [d]withered. 18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep [e]are made desolate. 19 O Jehovah, to thee do I cry; for the fire hath devoured the [f]pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. 20 Yea, the beasts of the field pant unto thee; for the water brooks are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the [g]pastures of the wilderness.

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Footnotes

  1. Joel 1:14 Or, elders
  2. Joel 1:15 Hebrew Shaddai.
  3. Joel 1:17 Or, shrivel
  4. Joel 1:17 Or, ashamed
  5. Joel 1:18 Or, suffer punishment
  6. Joel 1:19 Or, folds
  7. Joel 1:20 Or, folds