1 T he word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:

2 H ear this, O elders, And listen, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days Or in your fathers’ days?

3 T ell your sons about it, And let your sons tell their sons, And their sons the next generation.

4 W hat the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten; And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten.

5 A wake, drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you wine drinkers, On account of the sweet wine That is cut off from your mouth.

6 F or a nation has invaded my land, Mighty and without number; Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, And it has the fangs of a lioness.

7 I t has made my vine a waste And my fig tree splinters. It has stripped them bare and cast them away; Their branches have become white.

8 W ail like a virgin girded with sackcloth For the bridegroom of her youth.

9 T he grain offering and the drink offering are cut off From the house of the Lord. The priests mourn, The ministers of the Lord.

10 T he field is ruined, The land mourns; For the grain is ruined, The new wine dries up, Fresh oil fails.

11 B e ashamed, O farmers, Wail, O vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the harvest of the field is destroyed.

12 T he vine dries up And the fig tree fails; The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree, All the trees of the field dry up. Indeed, rejoicing dries up From the sons of men.

13 G ird yourselves with sackcloth And lament, O priests; Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth O ministers of my God, For the grain offering and the drink offering Are withheld from the house of your God. Starvation and Drought

14 C onsecrate a fast, Proclaim a solemn assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land To the house of the Lord your God, And cry out to the Lord.

15 A las for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

16 H as not food been cut off before our eyes, Gladness and joy from the house of our God?

17 T he seeds shrivel under their clods; The storehouses are desolate, The barns are torn down, For the grain is dried up.

18 H ow the beasts groan! The herds of cattle wander aimlessly Because there is no pasture for them; Even the flocks of sheep suffer.

19 T o You, O Lord, I cry; For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.

20 E ven the beasts of the field pant for You; For the water brooks are dried up And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.