Joel 1

The Invasion of Locusts

^{verse 1}This is the word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel:

^{verse 2}Hear this, O elders;

and give ear, all who dwell in the land.

Has anything like this ever happened in your days

or in the days of your fathers?

^{verse 3}Tell it to your children;

let your children tell it to their children,

and their children to the next generation.

^{verse 4}What the devouring locust has left,

the swarming locust has eaten;

what the swarming locust has left,

the young locust has eaten;

and what the young locust has left,

the destroying locust has eaten.^a

^{verse 5}Wake up, you drunkards, and weep;

wail, all you drinkers of wine,

because of the sweet wine,

for it has been cut off from your mouth.

^{verse 6}For a nation has invaded My land,

powerful and without number;

its teeth are the teeth of a lion,

and its fangs are the fangs of a lioness.

^{verse 7}It has laid waste My grapevine

and splintered My fig tree.

It has stripped off the bark and thrown it away;

the branches have turned white.

A Call to Mourning

^{verse 8}Wail like a virgin dressed in sackcloth,

grieving for the husband of her youth.

^{verse 9}Grain and drink offerings have been cut off

from the house of the LORD;

the priests are in mourning,

those who minister before the LORD.

^{verse 10}The field is ruined;

the land mourns.

For the grain is destroyed,

the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.

^{verse 11}Be dismayed, O farmers,

wail, O vinedressers,

over the wheat and barley,

because the harvest of the field has perished.

^{verse 12}The grapevine is dried up,

and the fig tree is withered;

the pomegranate, palm, and apple—

all the trees of the orchard— are withered.

Surely the joy of mankind has dried up.

A Call to Repentance

^{verse 13}Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests;

wail, O ministers of the altar.

Come, spend the night in sackcloth,

O ministers of my God,

because the grain and drink offerings

are withheld from the house of your God.

^{verse 14}Consecrate a fast;

proclaim a solemn assembly!

Gather the elders

and all the residents of the land

to the house of the LORD your God,

and cry out to the LORD.

^{verse 15}Alas for the day!

For the Day of the LORD is near,

and it will come

as destruction from the Almighty.^b

^{verse 16}Has not the food been cut off

before our very eyes —

joy and gladness

from the house of our God?

^{verse 17}The seeds lie shriveled beneath the clods;

the storehouses are in ruins;

the granaries are broken down,

for the grain has withered away.

^{verse 18}How the cattle groan!

The herds wander in confusion

because they have no pasture.

Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

^{verse 19}To You, O LORD, I call,

for fire has consumed the open pastures

and flames have scorched all the trees of the field.

^{verse 20}Even the beasts of the field pant for You,

for the streams of water have dried up,

and fire has consumed the open pastures.