The word of the Lord that camea to Joel son of Pethuel:

A PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS

2 Hear this,b you elders;

listen, all you inhabitants of the land.

Has anything like this ever happened in your daysc

or in the days of your ancestors?

3 Tell your children about it,d

and let your children tell their children,

and their children the next generation.

4 What the devouring locuste has left,

the swarming locust has eaten;

what the swarming locust has left,

the young locustf has eaten;

and what the young locust has left,

the destroying locustg has eaten.

5 Wake up, you drunkards,h and weep;

wail, all you wine drinkers,

because of the sweet wine,

for it has been taken from your mouth.

6 For a nation has invaded my land,i

powerful and without number;

its teeth are the teeth of a lion,

and it has the fangs of a lioness.j

7 It has devastated my grapevine

and splintered my fig tree.

It has stripped off its bark and thrown it away;

its branches have turned white.

8 Grieve like a young woman dressed in sackcloth,k

mourning for the husband of her youth.

9 Grain and drink offerings have been cut offl

from the house of the Lord;

the priests, who are ministers of the Lord, mourn.m

10 The fields are destroyed;n

the land grieves;

indeed, the grain is destroyed;

the new wine is dried up;o

and the fresh oil fails.p

11 Be ashamed, you farmers,q

wail, you vinedressers,A

over the wheat and the barley,

because the harvest of the field has perished.r

12 The grapevine is dried up,s

and the fig tree is withered;

the pomegranate,t the date palm,u and the applev—

all the trees of the orchard—have withered.

Indeed, human joy has dried up.w

13 Dress in sackcloth and lament,x you priests;y

wail,z you ministers of the altar.

Come and spend the night in sackcloth,aa

you ministers of my God,

because grain and drink offerings

are withheld from the house of your God.

14 Announce a sacred fast;ab

proclaim a solemn assembly!

Gather the eldersac

and all the residents of the land

at the house of the Lord your God,ad

and cry out to the Lord.ae

THE DAY OF THE LORD

15 Woe because of that day!af

For the day of the Lord is near

and will come as devastation from the Almighty.ag

16 Hasn’t the food been cut off

before our eyes,ah

joy and gladnessai

from the house of our God?

17 The seeds lie shriveled in their casings.B,aj

The storehouses are in ruin,

and the granaries are broken down,

because the grain has withered away.

18 How the animals groan!ak

The herds of cattle wander in confusion

since they have no pasture.

Even the flocks of sheep and goats suffer punishment.

19 I call to you, Lord,al

for fire has consumed

the pastures of the wilderness,a

and flames have devoured

all the trees of the orchard.

20 Even the wild animals cry out toA you,b

for the river beds are dried up,c

and fire has consumed

the pastures of the wilderness.

2 Blow the trumpet in Zion;d

sound the alarm on my holy mountain!

Let all the residents of the land tremble,

for the day of the Lord is coming;e

in fact, it is near—

2 a day of darkness and gloom,f

a day of clouds and total darkness,g

like the dawn spreading over the mountains;

a great and strong peopleh appears,

such as never existed in ages pasti

and never will again

in all the generations to come.j

3 A fire devours in front of them,k

and behind them a flame blazes.

The land in front of them

is like the garden of Eden,l

but behind them,

it is like a desert wasteland;m

there is no escape from them.

4 Their appearance is like that of horses,n

and they gallop like war horses.

5 They bound on the tops of the mountains.

Their sound is like the sound of chariots,o

like the sound of fiery flames consuming stubble,p

like a mighty army deployed for war.

6 Nations writhe in horror before them;q

all faces turn pale.

7 They attack as warriors attack;

they scale walls as men of war do.

Each goes on his own path,r

and they do not change their course.

8 They do not push each other;

each proceeds on his own path.

They dodge the arrows, never stopping.

9 They storm the city;

they run on the wall;

they climb into the houses;s

they enter through the windows like thieves.t

10 The earth quakes before them;u

the sky shakes.

The sun and moon grow dark,v

and the stars cease their shining.w

11 The Lord makes his voice heardx

in the presence of his army.y

His camp is very large;

those who carry out his command are powerful.z

Indeed, the day of the Lord is terrible and dreadfulaa—

who can endure it?ab

GOD’S CALL FOR REPENTANCE

12 Even now—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

turn to me with all your heart,ac

with fasting, weeping, and mourning.ad

13 Tear your hearts,ae

not just your clothes,af

and return to the Lord your God.

For he is gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger, abounding in faithful love,

and he relents from sending disaster.ag

14 Who knows? He may turn and relentah

and leave a blessing behind him,ai

so you can offer a grain offering and a drink offering

to the Lord your God.aj

15 Blow the trumpet in Zion!ak

Announce a sacred fast;al

proclaim a solemn assembly.

16 Gather the people;

sanctify the congregation;am

assemble the aged;B,an

gather the infants,

even babies nursing at the breast.

Let the groom leave his bedroom,ao

and the bride her honeymoon chamber.

17 Let the priests,ap the Lord’s ministers,

weep between the portico and the altar.aq

Let them say,

“Have pity on your people, Lord,ar

and do not make your inheritance a disgrace,a

an object of scorn among the nations.

Why should it be said among the peoples,

‘Where is their God?’ ”b