1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:

2 *[Hos. 5:1] Hear this, *ver. 14you elders;

give ear, *ver. 14all inhabitants of the land!

*[ch. 2:2]Has such a thing happened in your days,

or in the days of your fathers?

3 *[Ps. 78:4]Tell your children of it,

and let your children tell their children,

and their children to another generation.

4 What *ch. 2:25;Amos 4:9the cutting locust left,

*[Amos 7:1]; See Ex. 10:4the swarming locust has eaten.

What the swarming locust left,

*ch. 2:25;Ps. 105:34;Nah. 3:15the hopping locust has eaten,

and what the hopping locust left,

*ch. 2:25;Ps. 78:46the destroying locust has eaten.

5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep,

and *[Isa. 24:11] wail, all you drinkers of wine,

because of *ch. 3:18;Isa. 49:26;Amos 9:13the sweet wine,

for it is cut off from your mouth.

6 For *ch. 2:2a nation has come up against my land,

*ch. 2:2powerful and beyond number;

*[Rev. 9:7,8]its teeth are lions’ teeth,

and it has the fangs of a lioness.

7 It has laid waste my vine

and splintered my *[ver. 12]fig tree;

it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;

their branches are made white.

8 Lament like a virgin*1:8 Or young woman*[ver. 13]; See 2 Sam. 3:31wearing sackcloth

for the bridegroom of her youth.

9 *ver. 13;ch. 2:14The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off

from the house of the Lord.

*ch. 2:17;[Isa. 61:6;Ezek. 45:4]The priests mourn,

*ch. 2:17;[Isa. 61:6;Ezek. 45:4]the ministers of the Lord.

10 The fields are destroyed,

*See Hos. 4:3the ground mourns,

because *[Hos. 2:9]the grain is destroyed,

*[Hos. 2:9]the wine dries up,

the oil languishes.

11 *[Jer. 14:4] Be ashamed,*1:11 The Hebrew words for dry up and be ashamed in verses 10–12, 17 sound alike O tillers of the soil;

wail, O vinedressers,

for the wheat and the barley,

*ver. 17because the harvest of the field has perished.

12 The vine dries up;

*[ver. 7] the fig tree languishes.

Pomegranate, palm, and apple,

all the trees of the field are dried up,

and *Isa. 24:11;Jer. 48:33gladness dries up

from the children of man.

13 *[ver. 8; Jer. 4:8] Put on sackcloth and lament, *[See ver. 9above] O priests;

*[ver. 8; Mic. 1:8] wail, O ministers of the altar.

Go in, *[ver. 8; Jer. 4:8] pass the night in sackcloth,

*[See ver. 9above] O ministers of my God!

*ver. 9;ch. 2:14Because grain offering and drink offering

are withheld from the house of your God.

14 *ch. 2:15,16;See 2 Chr. 20:3Consecrate a fast;

*ch. 2:15,16;See 2 Chr. 20:3call a solemn assembly.

Gather *ver. 2the elders

and *ver. 2all the inhabitants of the land

to the house of the Lord your God,

and cry out to the Lord.

15 Alas for the day!

*ch. 2:1,11,31;3:14;Isa. 13:6,9;Jer. 46:10;Ezek. 30:2,3;Amos 5:18;Obad. 15;Zeph. 1:14,15;Zech. 14:1;2 Pet. 3:10For the day of the Lord is near,

and as destruction from the Almighty*1:15 Destruction sounds like the Hebrew for Almighty it comes.

16 Is not the food cut off

before our eyes,

*[Deut. 12:6,7;16:14,15]joy and gladness

from the house of our God?

17 *[Mal. 2:3] The seed shrivels under the clods;*1:17 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain

the storehouses are desolate;

the granaries are torn down

because *ver. 11the grain has dried up.

18 How *ch. 2:22;[Jer. 12:4;Hos. 4:3]the beasts groan!

The herds of cattle are perplexed

because there is no pasture for them;

even the flocks of sheep suffer.*1:18 Or are made desolate

19 To you, *Ps. 50:15O Lord, I call.

*Jer. 9:10For fire has devoured

the pastures of the wilderness,

*Jer. 9:10and flame has burned

all the trees of the field.

20 Even the beasts of the field *[Job 38:41;Ps. 104:21;145:15] pant for you

because the water brooks are dried up,

*[See ver. 19above]and fire has devoured

the pastures of the wilderness.