Joel 1:2-12
New American Standard Bible
2 (A)Hear this, you (B)elders,
And listen, all inhabitants of the land.
(C)Has anything like this happened in your days,
Or in your fathers’ days?
3 (D)Tell your sons about it,
And have your sons tell their sons,
And their sons the next generation.
4 What the (E)gnawing locust has left, the [a]swarming locust has eaten;
And what the (F)swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;
And what the creeping locust has left, the (G)stripping locust has eaten.
5 Awake, (H)you heavy drinkers, and weep;
And wail, all you wine drinkers,
Because of the sweet wine,
For it has been (I)eliminated from your mouth.
6 For a (J)nation has [b]invaded my land,
Mighty and without number;
(K)Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And it has the jaws of a lioness.
7 It has (L)made my vine a waste
And my fig tree a stump.
It has stripped them bare and hurled them away;
Their branches have become white.
8 (M)Wail like a virgin (N)clothed with sackcloth
For the groom of her youth.
9 The (O)grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off
From the house of the Lord.
The (P)priests mourn,
The ministers of the Lord.
10 The field is (Q)ruined,
(R)The land mourns;
For the grain is ruined,
The new wine has dried up,
Fresh oil has [c]failed.
11 (S)Be ashamed, you farm workers,
Wail, you vinedressers,
For the wheat and the barley;
Because the (T)harvest of the field is destroyed.
12 The (U)vine has dried up
And the fig tree has withered;
The (V)pomegranate, the (W)palm also, and the (X)apple tree,
All the trees of the field have dried up.
Indeed, (Y)joy has dried up
From the sons of mankind.
Joel 1:2-12
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Lament over the Ruin of the Country
2 Hear this, O elders;
give ear, all inhabitants of the land!
Has such a thing happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?(A)
3 Tell your children of it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children another generation.(B)
4 What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten;
what the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten;
and what the hopping locust left,
the destroying locust has eaten.(C)
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep,
and wail, all you wine drinkers,
over the sweet wine,
for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation has invaded my land,
powerful and innumerable;
its teeth are lions’ teeth,
and it has the fangs of a lioness.(D)
7 It has laid waste my vines
and splintered my fig trees;
it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
their branches have turned white.(E)
8 Lament like a virgin dressed in sackcloth
for the husband of her youth.(F)
9 The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
from the house of the Lord.
The priests mourn,
the ministers of the Lord.(G)
10 The fields are devastated,
the ground mourns,
for the grain is destroyed,
the wine dries up,
the oil fails.(H)
11 Be dismayed, you farmers;
wail, you vinedressers,
over the wheat and the barley,
for the crops of the field are ruined.(I)
12 The vine withers;
the fig tree droops.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple—
all the trees of the field are dried up;
surely, joy withers away
among the people.(J)
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.