1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Pethuel.
1 2
1 An Invasion of Locusts
2 Hear this, you elders; 2 listen, all who live in the land. 2 Has anything like this ever happened in your days 2 or in the days of your forefathers?
3 Tell it to your children, 3 and let your children tell it to their children, 3 and their children to the next generation.
4 What the locust swarm has left 4 the great locusts have eaten; 4 what the great locusts have left 4 the young locusts have eaten; 4 what the young locusts have left 4 other locusts[a] have eaten.
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! 5 Wail, all you drinkers of wine; 5 wail because of the new wine, 5 for it has been snatched from your lips.
6 A nation has invaded my land, 6 powerful and without number; 6 it has the teeth of a lion, 6 the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid waste my vines 7 and ruined my fig trees. 7 It has stripped off their bark 7 and thrown it away, 7 leaving their branches white.
8 Mourn like a virgin[b] in sackcloth 8 grieving for the husband[c] of her youth.
9 Grain offerings and drink offerings 9 are cut off from the house of the Lord. 9 The priests are in mourning, 9 those who minister before the Lord.
10 The fields are ruined, 10 the ground is dried up[d]; 10 the grain is destroyed, 10 the new wine is dried up, 10 the oil fails.
11 Despair, you farmers, 11 wail, you vine growers; 11 grieve for the wheat and the barley, 11 because the harvest of the field is destroyed.
12 The vine is dried up 12 and the fig tree is withered; 12 the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree— 12 all the trees of the field—are dried up. 12 Surely the joy of mankind 12 is withered away.
12 13
13 A Call to Repentance
13 Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn; 13 wail, you who minister before the altar. 13 Come, spend the night in sackcloth, 13 you who minister before my God; 13 for the grain offerings and drink offerings 13 are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Declare a holy fast; 14 call a sacred assembly. 14 Summon the elders 14 and all who live in the land 14 to the house of the Lord your God, 14 and cry out to the Lord.
15 Alas for that day! 15 For the day of the Lord is near; 15 it will come like destruction from the Almighty.[e]
16 Has not the food been cut off 16 before our very eyes— 16 joy and gladness 16 from the house of our God?
17 The seeds are shriveled 17 beneath the clods.[f] 17 The storehouses are in ruins, 17 the granaries have been broken down, 17 for the grain has dried up.
18 How the cattle moan! 18 The herds mill about 18 because they have no pasture; 18 even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
19 To you, O Lord, I call, 19 for fire has devoured the open pastures 19 and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the wild animals pant for you; 20 the streams of water have dried up 20 and fire has devoured the open pastures.
1 An Army of Locusts
1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; 1 sound the alarm on my holy hill. 1 Let all who live in the land tremble, 1 for the day of the Lord is coming. 1 It is close at hand— 2 a day of darkness and gloom, 2 a day of clouds and blackness. 2 Like dawn spreading across the mountains 2 a large and mighty army comes, 2 such as never was of old 2 nor ever will be in ages to come.
3 Before them fire devours, 3 behind them a flame blazes. 3 Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, 3 behind them, a desert waste— 3 nothing escapes them.
4 They have the appearance of horses; 4 they gallop along like cavalry.
5 With a noise like that of chariots 5 they leap over the mountaintops, 5 like a crackling fire consuming stubble, 5 like a mighty army drawn up for battle.
6 At the sight of them, nations are in anguish; 6 every face turns pale.
7 They charge like warriors; 7 they scale walls like soldiers. 7 They all march in line, 7 not swerving from their course.
8 They do not jostle each other; 8 each marches straight ahead. 8 They plunge through defenses 8 without breaking ranks.
9 They rush upon the city; 9 they run along the wall. 9 They climb into the houses; 9 like thieves they enter through the windows.
10 Before them the earth shakes, 10 the sky trembles, 10 the sun and moon are darkened, 10 and the stars no longer shine.
11 The Lord thunders 11 at the head of his army; 11 his forces are beyond number, 11 and mighty are those who obey his command. 11 The day of the Lord is great; 11 it is dreadful. 11 Who can endure it?
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12 Rend Your Heart
12 "Even now," declares the Lord, 12 "return to me with all your heart, 12 with fasting and weeping and mourning."
13 Rend your heart 13 and not your garments. 13 Return to the Lord your God, 13 for he is gracious and compassionate, 13 slow to anger and abounding in love, 13 and he relents from sending calamity.
14 Who knows? He may turn and have pity 14 and leave behind a blessing— 14 grain offerings and drink offerings 14 for the Lord your God.
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, 15 declare a holy fast, 15 call a sacred assembly.
16 Gather the people, 16 consecrate the assembly; 16 bring together the elders, 16 gather the children, 16 those nursing at the breast. 16 Let the bridegroom leave his room 16 and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, 17 weep between the temple porch and the altar. 17 Let them say, "Spare your people, O Lord. 17 Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, 17 a byword among the nations. 17 Why should they say among the peoples, 17 'Where is their God?' "
17 18
18 The Lord's Answer
18 Then the Lord will be jealous for his land 18 and take pity on his people.
19 The Lord will reply[g] was jealous . . . / and took pity . . . / 19The Lord replied to them: 19 "I am sending you grain, new wine and oil, 19 enough to satisfy you fully; 19 never again will I make you 19 an object of scorn to the nations.
20 "I will drive the northern army far from you, 20 pushing it into a parched and barren land, 20 with its front columns going into the eastern sea[h] 20 and those in the rear into the western sea.[i] 20 And its stench will go up; 20 its smell will rise." 20 Surely he has done great things.[j] 21 Be not afraid, O land; 21 be glad and rejoice. 21 Surely the Lord has done great things. 22 Be not afraid, O wild animals, 22 for the open pastures are becoming green. 22 The trees are bearing their fruit; 22 the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.
23 Be glad, O people of Zion, 23 rejoice in the Lord your God, 23 for he has given you 23 the autumn rains in righteousness.[k] 23 He sends you abundant showers, 23 both autumn and spring rains, as before.
24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain; 24 the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
25 "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— 25 the great locust and the young locust, 25 the other locusts and the locust swarm[l]— 25 my great army that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, 26 and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, 26 who has worked wonders for you; 26 never again will my people be shamed.
27 Then you will know that I am in Israel, 27 that I am the Lord your God, 27 and that there is no other; 27 never again will my people be shamed.
27 28
28 The Day of the Lord
28 "And afterward, 28 I will pour out my Spirit on all people. 28 Your sons and daughters will prophesy, 28 your old men will dream dreams, 28 your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants, both men and women, 29 I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
30 I will show wonders in the heavens 30 and on the earth, 30 blood and fire and billows of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned to darkness 31 and the moon to blood 31 before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
32 And everyone who calls 32 on the name of the Lord will be saved; 32 for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem 32 there will be deliverance, 32 as the Lord has said, 32 among the survivors 32 whom the Lord calls.
