1 ¶ The word of the LORD that went to Joel the son of Pethuel.

A word of Jehovah that hath been unto Joel, son of Pethuel:

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

Hear this, ye aged ones, And give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land, Hath this been in your days? Or in the days of your fathers?

3 T ell your sons of it, and let your sons tell their sons, and their sons another generation.

Concerning it to your sons talk ye, And your sons to their sons, And their sons to another generation.

4 T hat which the palmerworm has left the locust has eaten; and that which the locust has left the cankerworm has eaten; and that which the cankerworm has left the caterpillar has eaten.

What is left of the palmer-worm, eaten hath the locust, And what is left of the locust, Eaten hath the cankerworm, And what is left of the cankerworm, Eaten hath the caterpillar.

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.

Awake, ye drunkards, and weep, And howl all drinking wine, because of the juice, For it hath been cut off from your mouth.

6 F or a people has come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the molars of a great lion.

For a nation hath come up on my land, Strong, and there is no number, Its teeth the teeth of a lion, And it hath the jaw-teeth of a lioness.

7 H e has laid my vine waste and barked my fig tree: he has made it clean bare and cast it away; its branches are made white.

It hath made my vine become a desolation, And my fig-tree become a chip, It hath made it thoroughly bare, and hath cast down, Made white have been its branches.

8 ¶ Lament like a young woman girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

Wail, as a virgin girdeth with sackcloth, For the husband of her youth.

9 T he grain offering and the drink offering of the house of the LORD has perished; the priests, the LORD’s ministers, mourn.

Cut off hath been present and libation from the house of Jehovah, Mourned have the priests, ministrants of Jehovah.

10 T he field was destroyed, the land mourns; for the wheat was destroyed; the new wine was dried up, the oil perished.

Spoiled is the field, mourned hath the ground, For spoiled is the corn, Dried up hath been new wine, languish doth oil.

11 B e ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is lost.

Be ashamed, ye husbandmen, Howl, vine-dressers, for wheat and for barley, For perished hath the harvest of the field.

12 T he vine has dried up, and the fig tree has perished; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, have withered: therefore joy has withered away from the sons of men.

The vine hath been dried up, And the fig-tree doth languish, Pomegranate, also palm, and apple-tree, All trees of the field have withered, For dried up hath been joy from the sons of men.

13 G ird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the present and the drink offering is taken away from the house of your God.

Gird, and lament, ye priests, Howl, ye ministrants of the altar, Come in, lodge in sackcloth, ministrants of my God, For withheld from the house of your God hath been present and libation.

14 ¶ Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the earth into the house of the LORD your God and cry unto the LORD.

Sanctify a fast, proclaim a restraint, Gather the elders -- all the inhabitants of the land, the house of Jehovah your God,

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

And cry unto Jehovah, `Alas for the day! For near a day of Jehovah, And as destruction from the mighty it cometh.

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

Is not before our eyes food cut off? From the house of our God joy and rejoicing?

17 T he seed has rotted under their clods, the storehouses were laid desolate, the barns were destroyed for the wheat is withered.

Rotted have scattered things under their clods, Desolated have been storehouses, Broken down have been granaries, For withered hath the corn.

18 H ow the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because they have no pasture; the flocks of sheep are condemned.

How have cattle sighed! Perplexed have been droves of oxen, For there is no pasture for them, Also droves of sheep have been desolated.

19 O LORD, to thee will I cry for the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the field.

Unto Thee, O Jehovah, I do call, For fire hath consumed comely places of a wilderness, And a flame hath set on fire all trees of the field.

20 T he beasts of the field also cry unto thee for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire has devoured the meadows of the wilderness.

Also the cattle of the field long for Thee, For dried up have been streams of water, And fire hath consumed comely places of a wilderness!'