1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
An Invasion of Locusts
give ear, ball inhabitants of the land!
cHas such a thing happened in your days,
or in the days of your fathers?
3 dTell your children of it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children to another generation.
4 What ethe cutting locust left,
fthe swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
gthe hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
hthe destroying locust has eaten.
5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep,
and iwail, all you drinkers of wine,
because of jthe sweet wine,
for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For ka nation has come up against my land,
kpowerful and beyond number;
lits teeth are lions’ teeth,
and it has the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid waste my vine
and splintered my mfig tree;
it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
their branches are made white.
8 Lament like a virgin1 nwearing sackcloth
for the bridegroom of her youth.
9 oThe grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
from the house of the Lord.
pThe priests mourn,
pthe ministers of the Lord.
10 The fields are destroyed,
qthe ground mourns,
because rthe grain is destroyed,
rthe wine dries up,
the oil languishes.
11 sBe ashamed,2 O tillers of the soil;
wail, O vinedressers,
for the wheat and the barley,
tbecause the harvest of the field has perished.
12 The vine dries up;
uthe fig tree languishes.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple,
all the trees of the field are dried up,
and vgladness dries up
from the children of man.
A Call to Repentance
13 wPut on sackcloth and lament, pO priests;
xwail, O ministers of the altar.
Go in, wpass the night in sackcloth,
pO ministers of my God!
yBecause grain offering and drink offering
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 zConsecrate a fast;
zcall a solemn assembly.
Gather athe elders
and aall the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
15 Alas for the day!
bFor the day of the Lord is near,
and as destruction from the Almighty3 it comes.
16 Is not the food cut off
before our eyes,
cjoy and gladness
from the house of our God?
17 dThe seed shrivels under the clods;4
the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
because ethe grain has dried up.
18 How fthe beasts groan!
The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
even the flocks of sheep suffer.5
19 To you, gO Lord, I call.
hFor fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness,
hand flame has burned
all the trees of the field.
20 Even the beasts of the field ipant for you
because the water brooks are dried up,
hand fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness.
The Scroll and the Lamb
1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne ha scroll written within and on the back, isealed with seven seals. 2 And jI saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, kthe Lion lof the tribe of Judah, mthe Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw na Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with oseven eyes, which are pthe seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders qfell down before the Lamb, reach holding a harp, and sgolden bowls full of incense, twhich are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang ua new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for vyou were slain, and by your blood wyou ransomed people for God
from xevery tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them ya kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.”
11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering zmyriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,
a“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
13 And I heard bevery creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
14 And the four living creatures csaid, “Amen!” and the elders dfell down and worshiped.
