Chapter 1

The Devastation of Locusts

1 The aword of the Lord that came to bJoel, the son of Pethuel:

2 aHear this, O belders,

And listen, all inhabitants of the land.

cHas anything like this happened in your days

Or in your fathers’ days?

3 aTell your sons about it,

And let your sons tell their sons,

And their sons the next generation.

4 What the agnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten;

And what the bswarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;

And what the creeping locust has left, the cstripping locust has eaten.

5 Awake, adrunkards, and weep;

And wail, all you wine drinkers,

On account of the sweet wine

That is bcut off from your mouth.

6 For a anation has 1invaded my land,

Mighty and without number;

bIts teeth are the teeth of a lion,

And it has the fangs of a lioness.

7 It has amade my vine a waste

And my fig tree 1splinters.

It has stripped them bare and cast them away;

Their branches have become white.

8 aWail like a virgin bgirded with sackcloth

For the bridegroom of her youth.

9 The agrain offering and the drink offering are cut off

From the house of the Lord.

The bpriests mourn,

The ministers of the Lord.

10 The field is aruined,

bThe land mourns;

For the grain is ruined,

The new wine dries up,

Fresh oil 1fails.

11 1aBe ashamed, O farmers,

Wail, O vinedressers,

For the wheat and the barley;

Because the bharvest of the field is destroyed.

12 The avine dries up

And the fig tree 1fails;

The bpomegranate, the cpalm also, and the 2dapple tree,

All the trees of the field dry up.

Indeed, erejoicing dries up

From the sons of men.

13 aGird yourselves with sackcloth

And lament, O priests;

bWail, O ministers of the altar!

Come, cspend the night in sackcloth

O ministers of my God,

For the grain offering and the drink offering

Are withheld from the house of your God.

Starvation and Drought

14 aConsecrate a fast,

Proclaim a bsolemn assembly;

Gather the elders

And all the inhabitants of the land

To the house of the Lord your God,

And ccry out to the Lord.

15 aAlas for the day!

For the bday of the Lord is near,

And it will come as cdestruction from the 1Almighty.

16 Has not afood been cut off before our eyes,

Gladness and bjoy from the house of our God?

17 The 1aseeds shrivel under their 2clods;

The storehouses are desolate,

The barns are torn down,

For the grain is dried up.

18 How athe beasts groan!

The herds of cattle wander aimlessly

Because there is no pasture for them;

Even the flocks of sheep 1suffer.

19 aTo You, O Lord, I cry;

For bfire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness

And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.

20 Even the beasts of the field 1apant for You;

For the bwater brooks are dried up

And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.