Joel 1:13-20

New King James Version

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.
¹⁶Is not the food ^(G)cut off before our eyes,
^(H)Joy and gladness from the house of our God?
¹⁷The seed shrivels under the clods,
Storehouses are in shambles;
Barns are broken down,
For the grain has withered.
¹⁸How ^(I)the animals groan!
The herds of cattle are restless,
Because they have no pasture;
Even the flocks of sheep ^[a]suffer punishment.

¹⁹O 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.
²⁰The 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.