1 T he word of Jehovah that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.

2 H ear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?

3 T ell your children of it, and your children their children, and their children another generation:

4 t hat which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten.

5 A wake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine: for it is cut off from your mouth.

6 F or a nation is come up upon my land, strong and without number: his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a lioness.

7 H e hath made my vine a desolation, and barked my fig-tree; he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away: its branches are made white.

8 W ail like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

9 T he oblation and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of Jehovah; the priests, Jehovah's ministers, mourn.

10 T he field is laid waste, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted, the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.

11 B e ashamed, ye husbandmen; howl, ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley: because the harvest of the field hath perished.

12 T he vine is dried up, and the fig-tree languisheth; the pomegranate-tree, the palm also and the apple-tree; all the trees of the field are withered, yea, joy is withered away from the children of men.

13 G ird yourselves, and lament, ye priests; howl, ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the oblation and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God.

14 H allow a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, gather the elders, all the inhabitants of the land to the house of Jehovah your God, and cry unto Jehovah.

15 A las for the day! for the day of Jehovah is at hand, and as destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

16 I s not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

17 T he seeds are rotten under their clods, the granaries are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.

18 H ow do the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are bewildered, for they have no pasture; the flocks of sheep also are in suffering.

19 T o thee, Jehovah, do I cry; for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned up all the trees of the field.

20 T he beasts of the field also cry unto thee; for the water-courses are dried, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.