Joel 1:1–2:32
1 The word of the Lord that camea to Joelb son of Pethuel.
listen, all who live in the land.e
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?f
3 Tell it to your children,g
and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.h
4 What the locusti swarm has left
the great locusts have eaten;
what the great locusts have left
the young locusts have eaten;
what the young locusts have leftj
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you drinkers of wine;l
wail because of the new wine,
for it has been snatchedm from your lips.
6 A nation has invaded my land,
a mighty army without number;n
it has the teetho of a lion,
the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid wastep my vines
and ruined my fig trees.q
It has stripped off their bark
and thrown it away,
leaving their branches white.
8 Mourn like a virgin in sackclothr
grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
9 Grain offerings and drink offeringss
are cut off from the house of the Lord.
The priests are in mourning,t
those who minister before the Lord.
the ground is dried up;u
the grain is destroyed,
the new winev is dried up,
the olive oil fails.w
11 Despair, you farmers,x
wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,y
because the harvest of the field is destroyed.z
and the fig tree is withered;a
the pomegranate,b the palm and the appleb tree—
all the trees of the field—are dried up.c
Surely the people’s joy
is withered away.
13 Put on sackcloth,d you priests, and mourn;
wail, you who ministere before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offeringsf
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Declare a holy fast;g
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the landh
to the house of the Lord your God,
15 Alas for thatk day!
For the day of the Lordl is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.c m
16 Has not the food been cut offn
before our very eyes—
joy and gladnesso
from the house of our God?p
The storehouses are in ruins,
the granaries have been broken down,
for the grain has dried up.
The herds mill about
because they have no pasture;r
even the flocks of sheep are suffering.s
19 To you, Lord, I call,t
for fireu has devoured the pasturesv in the wilderness
and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the wild animals pant for you;w
the streams of water have dried upx
and fire has devoured the pasturesy in the wilderness.
sound the alarm on my holy hill.b
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the Lordc is coming.
It is close at handd—
2 a day of darknesse and gloom,f
a day of cloudsg and blackness.h
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty armyi comes,
such as never was in ancient timesj
nor ever will be in ages to come.
3 Before them firek devours,
behind them a flame blazes.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,l
behind them, a desert wastem—
nothing escapes them.
4 They have the appearance of horses;n
they gallop along like cavalry.
5 With a noise like that of chariotso
they leap over the mountaintops,
like a crackling firep consuming stubble,
like a mighty army drawn up for battle.
6 At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;q
every face turns pale.r
7 They charge like warriors;s
they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line,t
not swervingu from their course.
8 They do not jostle each other;
each marches straight ahead.
They plunge through defenses
without breaking ranks.
they run along the wall.
They climb into the houses;v
like thieves they enter through the windows.w
10 Before them the earth shakes,x
the heavens tremble,y
the sun and moon are darkened,z
and the stars no longer shine.a
at the head of his army;d
his forces are beyond number,
and mighty is the army that obeys his command.
The day of the Lord is great;e
it is dreadful.
Who can endure it?f
12 “Even now,” declares the Lord,
“returng to me with all your heart,h
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
13 Rend your hearti
and not your garments.j
Returnk to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,l
slow to anger and abounding in love,m
and he relents from sending calamity.n
14 Who knows? He may turno and relentp
and leave behind a blessingq—
grain offerings and drink offeringsr
for the Lord your God.
15 Blow the trumpets in Zion,t
declare a holy fast,u
call a sacred assembly.v
consecratew the assembly;
bring together the elders,x
gather the children,
those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroomy leave his room
and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who ministerz before the Lord,
weepa between the portico and the altar.b
Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,c
a bywordd among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?e’ ”
18 Then the Lord was jealousf for his land
and took pityg on his people.
19 The Lord replieda to them:
“I am sending you grain, new wineh and olive oil,i
enough to satisfy you fully;j
never again will I make you
an object of scornk to the nations.
20 “I will drive the northern hordel far from you,
pushing it into a parched and barren land;
its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea
and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea.
And its stenchm will go up;
its smell will rise.”
Surely he has done great things!
21 Do not be afraid,n land of Judah;
be glad and rejoice.o
Surely the Lord has done great things!p
22 Do not be afraid, you wild animals,
for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green.q
The trees are bearing their fruit;
the fig treer and the vines yield their riches.t
rejoiceu in the Lord your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains
because he is faithful.v
He sends you abundant showers,w
both autumnx and spring rains,y as before.
24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
the vats will overflowz with new winea and oil.
25 “I will repay you for the years the locustsb have eatenc—
the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarmb—
my great armyd that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,e
and you will praisef the name of the Lord your God,
who has worked wondersg for you;
never again will my people be shamed.h
27 Then you will knowi that I am in Israel,
that I am the Lordj your God,
and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed.k
28 “And afterward,
I will pour out my Spiritl on all people.m
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,n
your old men will dream dreams,o
your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants,p both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.q
30 I will show wonders in the heavensr
and on the earth,s
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned to darknesst
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.u
on the name of the Lordv will be saved;w
for on Mount Zionx and in Jerusalem
there will be deliverance,y
as the Lord has said,
even among the survivorsz