1 The word of Jehovah that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or in the days of your fathers?
2 Hear this, you aged men, give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers?
3 Tell ye your children of it, and (let) your children (tell) their children, and their children another generation.
3 Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
4 That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten; and that which the canker-worm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten.
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.
5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and wail, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep; and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the jaw-teeth of a lioness.
6 For a nation has come up against my land, powerful and without number; its teeth are lions teeth, and it has the fangs of a lioness.
7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig-tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
7 It has laid waste my vines, and splintered my fig trees; it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down; their branches are made white.
8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth.
9 The meal-offering and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of Jehovah; the priests, Jehovahs ministers, mourn.
9 The cereal offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the LORD. The priests mourn, the ministers of the LORD.
10 The field is laid waste, the land mourneth; for the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.
10 The fields are laid waste, the ground mourns; because the grain is destroyed, the wine fails, the oil languishes.
11 Be confounded, O ye husbandmen, wail, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; for the harvest of the field is perished.
11 Be confounded, O tillers of the soil, wail, O vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley; because the harvest of the field has perished.
12 The vine is withered, and the fig-tree languisheth; the pomegranate-tree, the palm-tree also, and the apple-tree, even all the trees of the field are withered: for joy is withered away from the sons of men.
12 The vine withers, the fig tree languishes. Pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are withered; and gladness fails from the sons of men.
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.
13 Gird on sackcloth and lament, O priests, wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Because cereal offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the old men (and) all the inhabitants of the land unto the house of Jehovah your God, and cry unto Jehovah.
14 Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the LORD your God; and cry to the LORD.
15 Alas for the day! for the day of Jehovah is at hand, and as destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
15 Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.
16 Is not the food cut off before our eyes, (yea), joy and gladness from the house of our God?
16 Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 The seeds rot under their clods; the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the grain is withered.
17 The seed shrivels under the clods, the storehouses are desolate; the granaries are ruined because the grain has failed.
18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
18 How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep are dismayed.
19 O Jehovah, to thee do I cry; for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
19 Unto thee, O LORD, I cry. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flame has 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 pastures of the wilderness.
20 Even the wild beasts cry to thee because the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.