Joel 1:1–2:27

The People Mourn the Destruction of the Crops

1This is the Lord’s message to Joel son of Pethuel.

²Pay attention, you older people;

everyone in Judah, listen.

Has anything like this ever happened

in your time or the time of your ancestors?

³Tell your children about it;

they will tell their children,

who in turn will tell the next generation.

⁴Swarm after swarm of locusts settled on the crops;

what one swarm left, the next swarm devoured.

⁵Wake up and weep, you drunkards;

cry, you wine drinkers;

the grapes for making new wine have been destroyed.

^6*An army of locusts has attacked our land;

they are powerful and too many to count;

their teeth are as sharp as those of a lion.

⁷They have destroyed our grapevines

and chewed up our fig trees.

They have stripped off the bark,

till the branches are white.

⁸Cry, you people, like a young woman who mourns the death

of the man she was going to marry.

⁹There is no corn or wine to offer in the Temple;

the priests mourn because they have no offerings for the Lord.

¹⁰The fields are bare;

the ground mourns

because the corn is destroyed,

the grapes are dried up, and the olive trees are withered.

¹¹Grieve, you farmers;

cry, you that take care of the vineyards,

because the wheat, the barley,

yes, all the crops are destroyed.

¹²The grapevines and fig trees have withered;

all the fruit trees have wilted and died.

The joy of the people is gone.

¹³Put on sackcloth and weep,

you priests who serve at the altar!

Go into the Temple and mourn all night!

There is no corn or wine to offer your God.

¹⁴Give orders for a fast;

call an assembly!

Gather the leaders

and all the people of Judah

into the Temple of the Lord your God

and cry out to him.

^15*The day of the Lord is near;

the day when the Almighty brings destruction.

What terror that day will bring!

¹⁶We look on helpless as our crops are destroyed.

There is no joy in the Temple of our God.

¹⁷The seeds die in the dry earth.

There is no grain to be stored,

and so the empty granaries are in ruins.

¹⁸The cattle are bellowing in distress

because there is no pasture for them;

the flocks of sheep also suffer.

¹⁹I cry out to you, Lord,

because the pastures and trees are dried up,

as though a fire had burnt them.

²⁰Even the wild animals cry out to you

because the streams have become dry.

The Locusts as a Warning of the Day of the

2Blow the trumpet; sound the alarm on Zion, God’s sacred hill.^a

Tremble, people of Judah!

The day of the Lord is coming soon.

²It will be a dark and gloomy day,

a black and cloudy day.

The great army of locusts advances

like darkness spreading over the mountains.

There has never been anything like it,

and there never will be again.

³Like fire they eat up the plants.

In front of them the land is like the Garden of Eden,

but behind them it is a barren desert.

Nothing escapes them.

^4*They look like horses;

they run like war horses.

^5*As they leap on the tops of the mountains,

they rattle like chariots;

they crackle like dry grass on fire.

They are lined up like a great army ready for battle.

⁶As they approach, everyone is terrified;

every face turns pale.

⁷They attack like warriors;

they climb the walls like soldiers.

They all keep marching straight ahead

and do not change direction

⁸or get in each other’s way.

They swarm through defences,

and nothing can stop them.

⁹They rush against the city;

they run over the walls;

they climb up the houses

and go in through the windows like thieves.

^10*The earth shakes as they advance;

the sky trembles.

The sun and the moon grow dark,

and the stars no longer shine.

^11*The Lord thunders commands to his army.

The troops that obey him

are many and mighty.

How terrible is the day of the Lord!

Who will survive it?

A Call to Repentance

¹²“But even now,” says the Lord, “repent sincerely and return to me

with fasting and weeping and mourning.

¹³Let your broken heart show your sorrow;

tearing your clothes is not enough.”

Come back to the Lord your God.

He is kind and full of mercy;

he is patient and keeps his promise;

he is always ready to forgive and not punish.

¹⁴Perhaps the Lord your God will change his mind

and bless you with abundant crops.

Then you can offer him corn and wine.

¹⁵Blow the trumpet on Mount Zion;

give orders for a fast and call an assembly!

¹⁶Gather the people together;

prepare them for a sacred meeting;

bring the old people;

gather the children

and the babies too.

Even newly married couples must leave their room and come.

¹⁷The priests, serving the Lord

between the altar and the entrance of the Temple,

must weep and pray:

“Have pity on your people, Lord.

Do not let other nations despise us and mock us

by saying, ‘Where is your God?’ ”

God Restores Fertility to the Land

¹⁸Then the Lord showed concern for his land;

he had mercy on his people.

¹⁹He answered them:

“Now I am going to give you

corn and wine and olive oil,

and you will be satisfied.

Other nations will no longer despise you.

²⁰I will remove the locust army that came from the north

and will drive some of them into the desert.

Their front ranks will be driven into the Dead Sea,

their rear ranks into the Mediterranean.

Their dead bodies will stink.

I will destroy them because of all they have done to you.

²¹“Fields, don’t be afraid,

but be joyful and glad

because of all the Lord has done for you.

²²Animals, don’t be afraid.

The pastures are green;

the trees bear their fruit,

and there are plenty of figs and grapes.

²³“Be glad, people of Zion,

rejoice at what the Lord your God has done for you.

He has given you the right amount of autumn rain;^b

he has poured down the winter rain for you

and the spring rain as before.

²⁴The threshing places will be full of corn;

the pits beside the presses will overflow with wine and olive oil.

²⁵I will give you back what you lost

in the years when swarms of locusts ate your crops.

It was I who sent this army against you.

²⁶Now you will have plenty to eat, and be satisfied.

You will praise the Lord your God,

who has done wonderful things for you.

My people will never be despised again.

²⁷Then, Israel, you will know that I am among you,

and that I, the Lord, am your God

and there is no other.

My people will never be despised again.