Joel 1:1–11

The Devastation of Locusts

1 The aword of the Lord that came to bJoel, the son of Pethuel:

2 aHear this, O belders,

And listen, all inhabitants of the land.

cHas anything like this happened in your days

Or in your fathers’ days?

3 aTell your sons about it,

And let your sons tell their sons,

And their sons the next generation.

4 What the agnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten;

And what the bswarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;

And what the creeping locust has left, the cstripping locust has eaten.

5 Awake, adrunkards, and weep;

And wail, all you wine drinkers,

On account of the sweet wine

That is bcut off from your mouth.

6 For a anation has 1invaded my land,

Mighty and without number;

bIts teeth are the teeth of a lion,

And it has the fangs of a lioness.

7 It has amade my vine a waste

And my fig tree 1splinters.

It has stripped them bare and cast them away;

Their branches have become white.

8 aWail like a virgin bgirded with sackcloth

For the bridegroom of her youth.

9 The agrain offering and the drink offering are cut off

From the house of the Lord.

The bpriests mourn,

The ministers of the Lord.

10 The field is aruined,

bThe land mourns;

For the grain is ruined,

The new wine dries up,

Fresh oil 1fails.

11 1aBe ashamed, O farmers,

Wail, O vinedressers,

For the wheat and the barley;

Because the bharvest of the field is destroyed.