1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel.
1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
2 Hear this, you elders; listen, all who live in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your forefathers?
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 it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.
3 Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
4 What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have 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 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine; wail because of the new wine, for it has been snatched from your lips.
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 A nation has invaded my land, powerful and without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs 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 It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches 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 Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the husband of her youth.
8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth.
9 Grain offerings and drink offerings are cut off from the house of the LORD. The priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD.
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 fields are ruined, the ground is dried up; the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the oil fails.
10 The fields are laid waste, the ground mourns; because the grain is destroyed, the wine fails, the oil languishes.
11 Despair, you farmers, wail, you vine growers; grieve for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field is destroyed.
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 dried up and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree--all the trees of the field--are dried up. Surely the joy of mankind is withered away.
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 Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld 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 Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.
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 that day! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
15 Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.
16 Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes--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 are shriveled beneath the clods. The storehouses are in ruins, the granaries have been broken down, for the grain has dried up.
17 The seed shrivels under the clods, the storehouses are desolate; the granaries are ruined because the grain has failed.
18 How the cattle moan! The herds mill about because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
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 To you, O LORD, I call, for fire has devoured the open pastures and flames have burned up 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 Even the wild animals pant for you; the streams of water have dried up and fire has devoured the open pastures.
20 Even the wild beasts cry to thee because the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.