1 The word of Jehovah that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. 2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation: 4 that which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten. 5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine: for it is cut off from your mouth. 6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong and without number: his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a lioness. 7 He hath made my vine a desolation, and barked my fig-tree; he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away: its branches are made white.

8  Wail like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. 9  The oblation and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of Jehovah; the priests, Jehovah’s ministers, mourn. 10  The field is laid waste, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted, the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. 11  Be ashamed, ye husbandmen; howl, ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley: because the harvest of the field hath perished. 12  The vine is dried up, and the fig-tree languisheth; the pomegranate-tree, the palm also and the apple-tree; all the trees of the field are withered, yea, joy is withered away from the children of men. 13  Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests; howl, ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the oblation and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God.

14  Hallow a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of Jehovah your God, and cry unto Jehovah. 15  Alas for the day! for the day of Jehovah is at hand, and as destruction from the Almighty shall it come. 16  Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God? 17  The seeds are rotten under their clods, the granaries are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. 18  How do the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are bewildered, for they have no pasture; the flocks of sheep also are in suffering. 19  To thee, Jehovah, do I cry; for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned up all the trees of the field. 20  The beasts of the field also cry unto thee; for the water-courses are dried, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Chapter 2

1  Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of Jehovah cometh, for it is at hand; 2  a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and gross darkness, as the dawn spread upon the mountains; —a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after them, to the years of generations and generations. 3  A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth; the land is as a garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness: yea, and nothing escapeth them. 4  The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so they run. 5  Like the noise of chariots, on the tops of the mountains, they leap; like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 6  Before them the peoples are in anguish: all faces turn pale. 7  They run like mighty men; they climb the wall like men of war; and they march every one on his ways, and break not their ranks. 8  Neither doth one press upon another; they march every one in his path; and fall amid weapons, but are not wounded. 9  They spread themselves over the city; they run upon the wall; they climb up into the houses; they enter in by the windows like a thief. 10  The earth quaketh before them; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 11  And Jehovah uttereth his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; for strong is he that executeth his word: for the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible; and who can bear it?

12  Yet even now, saith Jehovah, turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning; 13  and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto Jehovah your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great loving-kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14  Who knoweth? He might return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, an oblation and a drink-offering for Jehovah your God? 15  Blow the trumpet in Zion, hallow a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly; 16  gather the people, hallow the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride from her closet. 17  Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare, O Jehovah, thy people, and give not thine inheritance to reproach, that they should be a byword of the nations. Wherefore should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?