Joel 1

1 The word of the Lord that came  * 1:1 Hs 1:1; Mc 1:1; Zph 1:1 to Joel son of Pethuel:

A Plague of Locusts

2 Hear this,  * 1:2 Hs 4:1; 5:1 you elders;

listen, all you inhabitants of the land.

Has anything like this ever happened in your days  * 1:2 Dt 4:32; Jr 2:10; Mk 2:12

or in the days of your ancestors?

3 Tell your children about it,  * 1:3 Ex 10:2; Jos 4:22; Ps 78:4

and let your children tell their children,

and their children the next generation.

4 What the devouring locust  * 1:4 Ex 10:4; Jl 2:25; Am 4:9 has left,

the swarming locust has eaten;

what the swarming locust has left,

the young locust  * 1:4 Ps 105:34; Nah 3:15–16 has eaten;

and what the young locust has left,

the destroying locust  * 1:4 Ps 78:46; Is 33:4 has eaten.

5 Wake up, you drunkards,  * 1:5 Jl 3:3 and weep;

wail, all you wine drinkers,

because of the sweet wine,

for it has been taken from your mouth.

6 For a nation has invaded my land,  * 1:6 Jl 2:2,11,25

powerful and without number;

its teeth are the teeth of a lion,

and it has the fangs of a lioness.  * 1:6 Rv 9:7–8

7 It has devastated my grapevine

and splintered my fig tree.

It has stripped off its bark and thrown it away;

its branches have turned white.

8 Grieve like a young woman dressed in sackcloth,  * 1:8 Is 22:12; Jr 4:8; 6:26

mourning for the husband of her youth.

9 Grain and drink offerings have been cut off  * 1:9 Hs 9:4; Jl 2:14

from the house of the  Lord;

the priests, who are ministers of the  Lord, mourn.  * 1:9 Hs 10:5; Jl 2:17

10 The fields are destroyed;  * 1:10 Is 24:4

the land grieves;

indeed, the grain is destroyed;

the new wine is dried up;  * 1:10 Hs 9:2

and the fresh oil fails.  * 1:10 Dt 28:51; Hs 2:8–13; Hg 1:11

11 Be ashamed, you farmers,  * 1:11 Jr 14:4; 51:23; Am 5:16

wail, you vinedressers,  * 1:11 Or The farmers are dismayed, the vinedressers wail

over the wheat and the barley,

because the harvest of the field has perished.  * 1:11 Is 17:11; Jr 9:12

12 The grapevine is dried up,  * 1:12 Hab 3:17

and the fig tree is withered;

the pomegranate,  * 1:12 Hg 2:19 the date palm,  * 1:12 Sg 7:8 and the apple  * 1:12 Sg 2:3  —

all the trees of the orchard — have withered.

Indeed, human joy has dried up.  * 1:12 Is 16:10; 24:11

13 Dress in sackcloth and lament,  * 1:13 Jr 4:8; Ezk 7:18 you priests;  * 1:13 Jl 2:17

wail,  * 1:13 Jr 9:10 you ministers of the altar.

Come and spend the night in sackcloth,  * 1:13 1Kg 21:27

you ministers of my God,

because grain and drink offerings

are withheld from the house of your God.

14 Announce a sacred fast;  * 1:14 Jl 2:15–16

proclaim a solemn assembly!

Gather the elders  * 1:14 Jl 1:2

and all the residents of the land

at the house of the  Lord your God,  * 1:14 2Ch 20:3; Neh 9:1; Jr 36:6,9

and cry out to the  Lord.  * 1:14 Jnh 3:8

The Day of the Lord

15 Woe because of that day!  * 1:15 Jr 30:7; Am 5:16

For the day of the  Lord is near

and will come as devastation from the Almighty.  * 1:15 Is 13:6,9; Ezk 30:2–3; Jl 2:1–2,11,31

16 Hasn’t the food been cut off

before our eyes,  * 1:16 Is 3:7

joy and gladness  * 1:16 Is 16:10; Jr 48:33

from the house of our God?

17 The seeds lie shriveled in their casings.  * 1:17 Or clods; Hb obscure,* 1:17 Is 17:10–11

The storehouses are in ruin,

and the granaries are broken down,

because the grain has withered away.

18 How the animals groan!  * 1:18 1Kg 18:5; Jr 12:4; 14:5–6; Hs 4:3

The herds of cattle wander in confusion

since they have no pasture.

Even the flocks of sheep and goats suffer punishment.

19 I call to you,  Lord,  * 1:19 Ps 50:15; Mc 7:7

for fire has consumed

the pastures of the wilderness,  * 1:19 Jr 9:10; Am 7:4

and flames have devoured

all the trees of the orchard.

20 Even the wild animals cry out to  * 1:20 Or animals pant for; Hb obscure  you,  * 1:20 Ps 104:21; 147:9

for the river beds are dried up,  * 1:20 1Kg 17:7; 18:5

and fire has consumed

the pastures of the wilderness.