1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
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.
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
pThe priests mourn,
pthe ministers of the Lord.
qthe ground mourns,
because rthe grain is destroyed,
rthe wine dries up,
11 sBe ashamed,2 O tillers of the soil;
tbecause the harvest of the field has perished.
uthe fig tree languishes.
all the trees of the field are dried up,
and vgladness dries up
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,
bFor the day of the Lord is near,
and as destruction from the Almighty3 it comes.
cjoy and gladness
17 dThe seed shrivels under the clods;4
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
20 Even the beasts of the field ipant for you
because the water brooks are dried up,
hand fire has devoured