Joel 1:1–2:27

A message came to Joel from the Lord. He was the son of Pethuel. Here is what Joel said.

Locusts Attack the Land

²Elders, listen to me.

Pay attention, all you who live in the land.

Has anything like this ever happened in your whole life?

Did it ever happen to your people

who lived long ago?

³Tell your children about it.

Let them tell their children.

And let their children tell it

to those who live after them.

⁴The giant locusts have eaten

what the common locusts have left.

The young locusts have eaten

what the giant locusts have left.

And other locusts have eaten

what the young locusts have left.

⁵Get up and sob, you people who drink too much!

Cry, all you who drink wine!

Cry because the fresh wine

has been taken away from you.

⁶The locusts are like an army

that has marched into our land.

There are so many of them

they can’t even be counted.

Their teeth are as sharp as a lion’s teeth.

They are like the fangs of a female lion.

⁷The locusts have completely destroyed our vines.

They have wiped out our fig trees.

They’ve stripped off the bark and thrown it away.

They’ve left the branches bare.

⁸My people, sob like a virgin

who is dressed in black clothes.

She is sad because she has lost

the young man she was going to marry.

⁹No one brings grain offerings and drink offerings

to the Lord’s house anymore.

So the priests who serve the Lord

are filled with sorrow.

¹⁰Our fields are wiped out.

The ground is dried up.

The grain is destroyed.

The fresh wine is gone.

And there isn’t any more olive oil.

¹¹Farmers, be sad.

Cry, you who grow vines.

Sob because the wheat and barley are gone.

The crops in the fields are destroyed.

¹²The vines and fig trees are dried up.

The pomegranate, palm and apple trees

don’t have any fruit on them.

In fact, all of the trees in the fields are dried up.

And my people’s joy has faded away.

Turn Away From Sin

¹³Priests, put on black clothes and sob.

Cry, you who serve at the altar.

Come, you who serve my God in the temple.

Spend the night dressed in black clothes.

Sob because no one brings grain offerings and drink offerings

to the house of your God anymore.

¹⁴Announce a holy fast.

Tell the people not to eat anything.

Gather them together for a special service.

Send for all of the elders

who live in the land.

Have them come to the house of the Lord your God.

And pray to him.

¹⁵The day of the Lord is near.

How sad it will be on that day!

The Mighty One is coming to destroy you.

¹⁶Our food has been taken away

right in front of our eyes.

There isn’t any joy or gladness

in the house of our God.

¹⁷The seeds have dried up in the ground.

The grain is also gone.

The storerooms have been destroyed.

The barns are broken down.

¹⁸Listen to the cattle groan!

The herds wander around.

They don’t have any grass to eat.

The flocks of sheep are also suffering.

¹⁹Lord, I call out to you.

Fire has burned up the grasslands.

Flames have destroyed all of the trees in the fields.

²⁰Even the wild animals cry out to you for help.

The streams of water have dried up.

Fire has burned up the grasslands.

The Lord Sends an Army of Locusts

2Priests, blow the trumpets in Zion.

Give a warning on my holy mountain.

Let everyone who lives in the land tremble with fear.

The day of the Lord is coming.

It is very near.

²That day will be dark and sad.

It will be black and cloudy.

A huge army of locusts is coming.

They will spread across the mountains

like the sun when it rises.

There has never been an army like it.

And there will never be another

for all time to come.

³Like fire they eat up everything in their path.

Behind them it looks as if flames have burned the land.

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

Behind them it is a dry and empty desert.

Nothing escapes them.

⁴They look like horses.

Like war horses they charge ahead.

⁵They sound like chariots as they leap over the mountaintops.

They crackle like fire burning up dry weeds.

They are like a mighty army

that is ready for battle.

⁶When people see them, they tremble with fear.

All of their faces turn pale.

⁷The locusts charge ahead like warriors.

They climb over walls like soldiers.

All of them march in line.

They don’t turn to the right or the left.

⁸They don’t bump into one another.

Each of them marches straight ahead.

They charge through everything that tries to stop them.

But they still stay in line.

⁹They attack a city.

They run along its wall.

They climb into houses.

They enter through windows like robbers.

¹⁰As they march forward, the earth shakes.

The sky trembles as they approach.

The sun and moon grow dark.

And the stars stop shining.

¹¹The Lord thunders with his mighty voice

as he leads his army.

He has so many forces they can’t even be counted.

Those who obey his commands are great in number.

The day of the Lord is great and terrifying.

Who can live through it?

Let Your Hearts Be Broken

¹²The Lord announces to his people,

“Return to me with all your heart.

There is still time.

Do not eat any food.

Sob and cry.”

¹³Don’t just tear your clothes to show how sad you are.

Let your hearts be broken.

Return to the Lord your God.

He is gracious.

He is tender and kind.

He is slow to get angry.

He is full of love.

He takes pity on you.

He won’t destroy you.

¹⁴Who knows? He might turn toward you

and have pity on you.

He might even give you his blessing.

Then you can bring grain offerings and drink offerings

to the Lord your God.

¹⁵Priests, blow the trumpets in Zion.

Announce a holy fast.

Tell the people not to eat anything.

Gather them together for a special service.

¹⁶Bring them together.

Set all of them apart to me.

Bring together the elders.

Gather the children and the babies

who are still nursing.

Let the groom leave his bedroom.

Let the bride leave their marriage bed.

¹⁷Let the priests who serve the Lord sob.

Let them cry between the temple porch and the altar.

Let them say, “Lord, spare your people.

Don’t let others make fun of them.

Don’t let the nations laugh at them.

Don’t let them tease your people and say,

‘Where is their God?’ ”

The Lord Answers the Prayer of His People

¹⁸Then the Lord will show concern for his land.

He will take pity on his people.

¹⁹He will reply,

“I will send you grain, olive oil and fresh wine.

It will be enough to satisfy you completely.

I will never allow other nations

to make fun of you again.

²⁰“I will drive far away from you

the army that comes from the north.

I will send some of its forces

into a dry and empty land.

Those in front will be pushed into the Dead Sea.

The ones in back will be driven into the Mediterranean Sea.

Their dead bodies will give off a bad smell.”

The Lord has done great things.

²¹Land, don’t be afraid.

Be glad and full of joy.

The Lord has done great things.

²²Wild animals, don’t be afraid.

The grasslands are turning green again.

The trees are bearing their fruit.

The vines and fig trees are producing rich crops.

²³People of Zion, be glad.

Be joyful because of what the Lord your God has done.

He has given you the right amount of rain in the fall.

He has sent you plenty of showers.

He has sent fall and spring rains alike,

just as he did before.

²⁴Your threshing floors will be covered with grain.

Olive oil and fresh wine will spill over

from the places where they are stored.

²⁵The Lord says,

“I sent a great army of locusts to attack you.

They included common locusts, giant locusts,

young locusts and other locusts.

I will make up for the years

they ate your crops.

²⁶You will have plenty to eat.

It will satisfy you completely.

Then you will praise me.

I am the Lord your God.

I have done wonderful miracles for you.

My people will never be put to shame again.

²⁷You will know that I am with you in Israel.

I am the Lord your God.

There is no other God.

So my people will never be put to shame again.