Joel 1:1–2:27

The word of the Lord that came^a to Joel^b son of Pethuel.

An Invasion of Locusts

²Hear this,^c you elders;^d

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

³Tell it to your children,^g

and let your children tell it to their children,

and their children to the next generation.^h

⁴What 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 left^j

other locusts^a have eaten.^k

⁵Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!

Wail, all you drinkers of wine;^l

wail because of the new wine,

for it has been snatched^m from your lips.

⁶A nation has invaded my land,

a mighty army without number;ⁿ

it has the teeth^o of a lion,

the fangs of a lioness.

⁷It has laid waste^p my vines

and ruined my fig trees.^q

It has stripped off their bark

and thrown it away,

leaving their branches white.

⁸Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth^r

grieving for the betrothed of her youth.

⁹Grain offerings and drink offerings^s

are cut off from the house of the Lord.

The priests are in mourning,^t

those who minister before the Lord.

¹⁰The fields are ruined,

the ground is dried up;^u

the grain is destroyed,

the new wine^v is dried up,

the olive oil fails.^w

¹¹Despair, you farmers,^x

wail, you vine growers;

grieve for the wheat and the barley,^y

because the harvest of the field is destroyed.^z

¹²The vine is dried up

and the fig tree is withered;^a

the pomegranate,^b the palm and the apple^b tree—

all the trees of the field—are dried up.^c

Surely the people’s joy

is withered away.

A Call to Lamentation

¹³Put on sackcloth,^d you priests, and mourn;

wail, you who minister^e before the altar.

Come, spend the night in sackcloth,

you who minister before my God;

for the grain offerings and drink offerings^f

are withheld from the house of your God.

¹⁴Declare a holy fast;^g

call a sacred assembly.

Summon the elders

and all who live in the land^h

to the house of the Lord your God,

and cry outⁱ to the Lord.^j

¹⁵Alas for that^k day!

For the day of the Lord^l is near;

it will come like destruction from the Almighty.^cm

¹⁶Has not the food been cut offⁿ

before our very eyes—

joy and gladness^o

from the house of our God?^p

¹⁷The seeds are shriveled

beneath the clods.^dq

The storehouses are in ruins,

the granaries have been broken down,

for the grain has dried up.

¹⁸How the cattle moan!

The herds mill about

because they have no pasture;^r

even the flocks of sheep are suffering.^s

¹⁹To you, Lord, I call,^t

for fire^u has devoured the pastures^v in the wilderness

and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.

²⁰Even the wild animals pant for you;^w

the streams of water have dried up^x

and fire has devoured the pastures^y in the wilderness.

An Army of Locusts

2Blow the trumpet^z in Zion;^a

sound the alarm on my holy hill.^b

Let all who live in the land tremble,

for the day of the Lord^c is coming.

It is close at hand^d—

²a day of darkness^e and gloom,^f

a day of clouds^g and blackness.^h

Like dawn spreading across the mountains

a large and mighty armyⁱ comes,

such as never was in ancient times^j

nor ever will be in ages to come.

³Before them fire^k devours,

behind them a flame blazes.

Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,^l

behind them, a desert waste^m—

nothing escapes them.

⁴They have the appearance of horses;ⁿ

they gallop along like cavalry.

⁵With a noise like that of chariots^o

they leap over the mountaintops,

like a crackling fire^p consuming stubble,

like a mighty army drawn up for battle.

⁶At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;^q

every face turns pale.^r

⁷They charge like warriors;^s

they scale walls like soldiers.

They all march in line,^t

not swerving^u from their course.

⁸They do not jostle each other;

each marches straight ahead.

They plunge through defenses

without breaking ranks.

⁹They rush upon the city;

they run along the wall.

They climb into the houses;^v

like thieves they enter through the windows.^w

¹⁰Before them the earth shakes,^x

the heavens tremble,^y

the sun and moon are darkened,^z

and the stars no longer shine.^a

¹¹The Lord^b thunders^c

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

Rend Your Heart

¹²“Even now,” declares the Lord,

“return^g to me with all your heart,^h

with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

¹³Rend your heartⁱ

and not your garments.^j

Return^k 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

¹⁴Who knows? He may turn^o and relent^p

and leave behind a blessing^q—

grain offerings and drink offerings^r

for the Lord your God.

¹⁵Blow the trumpet^s in Zion,^t

declare a holy fast,^u

call a sacred assembly.^v

¹⁶Gather the people,

consecrate^w the assembly;

bring together the elders,^x

gather the children,

those nursing at the breast.

Let the bridegroom^y leave his room

and the bride her chamber.

¹⁷Let the priests, who minister^z before the Lord,

weep^a 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 byword^d among the nations.

Why should they say among the peoples,

‘Where is their God?^e’ ”

The Lord’s Answer

¹⁸Then the Lord was jealous^f for his land

and took pity^g on his people.

¹⁹The Lord replied^a to them:

“I am sending you grain, new wine^h and olive oil,ⁱ

enough to satisfy you fully;^j

never again will I make you

an object of scorn^k to the nations.

²⁰“I will drive the northern horde^l 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 stench^m will go up;

its smell will rise.”

Surely he has done great things!

²¹Do not be afraid,ⁿ land of Judah;

be glad and rejoice.^o

Surely the Lord has done great things!^p

²²Do not be afraid, you wild animals,

for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green.^q

The trees are bearing their fruit;

the fig tree^r and the vine^s yield their riches.^t

²³Be glad, people of Zion,

rejoice^u 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 autumn^x and spring rains,^y as before.

²⁴The threshing floors will be filled with grain;

the vats will overflow^z with new wine^a and oil.

²⁵“I will repay you for the years the locusts^b have eaten^c—

the great locust and the young locust,

the other locusts and the locust swarm^b—

my great army^d that I sent among you.

²⁶You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,^e

and you will praise^f the name of the Lord your God,

who has worked wonders^g for you;

never again will my people be shamed.^h

²⁷Then you will knowⁱ that I am in Israel,

that I am the Lord^j your God,

and that there is no other;

never again will my people be shamed.^k