1 The word of the Lord which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.

2 Give ear to this, you old men, and take note, you people of the land. Has this ever been in your days, or in the days of your fathers?

3 Give the story of it to your children, and let them give it to their children, and their children to another generation.

4 What the worm did not make a meal of, has been taken by the locust; and what the locust did not take, has been food for the plant-worm; and what the plant-worm did not take, has been food for the field-fly.

5 Come out of your sleep, you who are overcome with wine, and give yourselves to weeping; give cries of sorrow, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it has been cut off from your mouths.

6 For a nation has come up over my land, strong and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the back teeth of a great lion.

7 By him my vine is made waste and my fig-tree broken: he has taken all its fruit and sent it down to the earth; its branches are made white.

8 Make sounds of grief like a virgin dressed in haircloth for the husband of her early years.

9 The meal offering and the drink offering have been cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, the Lord's servants, are sorrowing.

10 The fields are wasted, the land has become dry; for the grain is wasted, the new wine is kept back, the oil is poor.

11 The farmers are shamed, the workers in the vine-gardens give cries of grief, for the wheat and the barley; for the produce of the fields has come to destruction.

12 The vine has become dry and the fig-tree is feeble; the pomegranate and the palm-tree and the apple-tree, even all the trees of the field, are dry: because joy has gone from the sons of men.

13 Put haircloth round you and give yourselves to sorrow, you priests; give cries of grief, you servants of the altar: come in, and, clothed in haircloth, let the night go past, you servants of my God: for the meal offering and the drink offering have been kept back from the house of your God.

14 Let a time be fixed for going without food, have a holy meeting, let the old men, even all the people of the land, come together to the house of the Lord your God, crying out to the Lord.

15 Sorrow for the day! for the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Ruler of all it will come.

16 Is not food cut off before our eyes? joy and delight from the house of our God?

17 The grains have become small and dry under the spade; the store-houses are made waste, the grain-stores are broken down; for the grain is dry and dead.

18 What sounds of pain come from the beasts! the herds of cattle are at a loss because there is no grass for them; even the flocks of sheep are no longer to be seen.

19 O Lord, my cry goes up to you: for fire has put an end to the grass-lands of the waste, and all the trees of the field are burned with its flame.

20 The beasts of the field are turning to you with desire: for the water-streams are dry and fire has put an end to the grass-lands of the waste.

1 耶和华的话临到毗土珥的儿子约珥：

2 老年人哪！ 你们要听这话。这地所有的居民啊！ 你们要留心听。在你们的日子， 或在你们祖先的日子， 曾有这样的事吗？

3 你们要把这事传与子， 子传与孙， 孙传与后代。

4 剪虫剩下的， 蝗虫吃了； 蝗虫剩下的， 蝻子吃了； 蝻子剩下的， 蚂蚱吃了。

5 酒醉的人哪！ 你们要醒过来； 要哀哭！ 所有嗜酒的人哪！ 你们都要为甜酒哀号， 因为甜酒从你们的口里断绝了。

6 因为有一民族上来侵犯我的国土， 他们强大又无数； 他们的牙齿像狮子的牙齿， 他们有母狮的大牙。

7 他们使我的葡萄树荒凉， 折断了我的无花果树， 把树皮剥尽， 丢在一旁， 使枝条露白。

8 你们要哀号， 像少女腰束麻布， 为她幼年时许配的丈夫哀号一样。

9 素祭和奠祭都从耶和华的殿里断绝了， 事奉耶和华的祭司也都悲哀。

10 田野荒废， 土地凄凉， 因为五谷毁坏， 新酒干竭， 油也缺乏。

11 农夫啊！ 你们要为大麦和小麦羞愧。修理葡萄园的啊！ 你们要哀号， 因为田间的庄稼都破坏了。

12 葡萄树枯干， 无花果树衰残； 石榴树、棕树、苹果树， 田野所有的树木都枯干， 因此欢乐从人间消失了。

13 祭司啊！ 你们要腰束麻布， 并且痛哭。在祭坛侍候的啊！ 你们要哀号。事奉我的 神的啊！ 你们披上麻布进去过夜吧， 因为素祭和奠祭， 都从你们的 神的殿中止息了。

14 你们要把禁食的日子分别为圣， 召开严肃会， 聚集众长老和国中所有的居民， 到你们的 神耶和华的殿里， 向耶和华呼求。

15 哀哉那日！ 因为耶和华的日子临近了； 那日来到， 好像毁灭从全能者临到一样。

16 粮食不是在我们的眼前断绝了吗？欢喜与快乐不是从我们的 神的殿中止息了吗？

17 谷种在土块底下朽烂， 仓库荒凉， 谷仓破烂被拆毁， 因为五谷都枯干了。

18 牲畜发出哀鸣， 牛群到处流荡， 因为没有草场给它们， 羊群也同样受苦。

19 耶和华啊！ 我向你呼求， 因为火吞灭了旷野的草场， 火焰烧尽了田间所有的树木。

20 田野的走兽也向你发喘， 因为溪水都干涸了， 火吞灭了旷野的草场。