Joel 1

1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Bathuel.

2 Hear this, elders; pay attention, all who live in the land. Has anything like this happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors?

3 Tell your children about these things; let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.

4 What the caterpillar left, the locust ate; what the locust left, the crawling locust ate; and what the crawling locust left, the blight consumed.

5 Wake up from your wine, you who get drunk, and weep. Mourn, all who drink wine until drunk, because joy and gladness have been taken from your mouths.

6 A strong and countless nation has come up against my land. Its teeth are lion’s teeth, and its molars are those of a lion cub.

7 It has laid waste my vine and shattered my fig trees. It stripped the vine bare and threw it down, leaving its branches white.

8 Lament before me more deeply than a bride dressed in sackcloth for the husband she married as a virgin.

9 Sacrifice and drink offering have been taken from the Lord’s house. Mourn, you priests who serve at the altar.

10 The plains are devastated; let the land mourn. The grain is ruined, the wine has dried up, and the olive oil has grown scarce.

11 The farmers have withered. Mourn, you farms, over the wheat and barley, for the harvest has vanished from the field.

12 The vine has dried up, and the fig trees have dwindled. The pomegranate, palm, apple, and every tree of the field have dried up, because the children of humanity have put joy to shame.

13 Put on sackcloth and beat your breasts, you priests. Mourn, you who serve at the altar. Go in and spend the night in sackcloth, you who serve God, because sacrifice and drink offering have been withheld from your God’s house.

14 Set apart a fast and proclaim a solemn service. Gather the elders and everyone who lives in the land into the house of your God, and cry earnestly to the Lord.

15 Oh, oh, oh, the day! The day of the Lord is near, and it will come as ruin upon ruin.

16 Food has been destroyed before your eyes, and joy and gladness have vanished from the house of your God.

17 The heifers kick at their feeding troughs. The storehouses have vanished, and the winepresses have collapsed, because the grain has dried up.

18 What can we store up for ourselves? The herds of cattle mourn because they have no pasture, and the flocks of sheep are destroyed.

19 To you, Lord, I will cry, for fire has consumed the beautiful places of the wilderness, and flame has burned every tree of the field.

20 Even the cattle of the field look up to you, because the channels of water have dried up, and fire has consumed the beautiful places of the wilderness.