The word of the Lord that camea to Joelb son of Pethuel.

An Invasion of Locusts

2 Hear 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

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

other locustsa have eaten.k

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.