1 T he word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. The Land Laid Waste

2 H ear this, you elders, And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has anything like this happened in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers?

3 T ell your children about it, Let your children tell their children, And their children another generation.

4 W hat the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten.

5 A wake, you drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you drinkers of wine, Because of the new wine, For it has been cut off from your mouth.

6 F or a nation has come up against My land, Strong, and without number; His teeth are the teeth of a lion, And he has the fangs of a fierce lion.

7 H e has laid waste My vine, And ruined My fig tree; He has stripped it bare and thrown it away; Its branches are made white.

8 L ament like a virgin girded with sackcloth For the husband of her youth.

9 T he grain offering and the drink offering Have been cut off from the house of the Lord; The priests mourn, who minister to the Lord.

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

11 B e ashamed, you farmers, Wail, you vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the harvest of the field has perished.

12 T he vine has dried up, And the fig tree has withered; The pomegranate tree, The palm tree also, And the apple tree— All the trees of the field are withered; Surely joy has withered away from the sons of men. Mourning for the Land

13 G ird yourselves and lament, you priests; Wail, you who minister before the altar; Come, lie all night in sackcloth, You who minister to my God; For the grain offering and the drink offering Are withheld from the house of your God.

14 C onsecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land Into 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 at hand; It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.

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

17 T he seed shrivels under the clods, Storehouses are in shambles; Barns are broken down, For the grain has withered.

18 H ow the animals groan! The herds of cattle are restless, Because they have no pasture; Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.

19 O Lord, to You I cry out; For fire has devoured the open pastures, And a flame has burned all the trees of the field.

20 T he beasts of the field also cry out to You, For the water brooks are dried up, And fire has devoured the open pastures.