1. The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel.
2. Listen to this, O elders, Give ear, all inhabitants of the land. Has the like of this happened in your days Or in the days of your fathers?
3. Tell your children about it, And let your children tell theirs, And their children the next generation!
4. What the cutter has left, the locust has devoured; What the locust has left, the grub has devoured; And what the grub has left, the hopper has devoured.
5. Wake up, you drunkards, and weep, Wail, all you swillers of wine -- For the new wine that is denied you!
6. For a nation has invaded my land, Vast beyond counting, With teeth like the teeth of a lion, With the fangs of a lion's breed.
7. They have laid my vines waste And splintered my fig trees: They have stripped off their bark and thrown [it] away; Their runners have turned white.
8. Lament -- like a maiden girt with sackcloth For the husband of her youth!
9. Offering and libation have ceased From the House of the LORD; The priests must mourn Who minister to the LORD.
10. The country is ravaged, The ground must mourn; For the new grain is ravaged, The new wine is dried up, The new oil has failed.
11. Farmers are dismayed And vine dressers wail Over wheat and barley; For the crops of the field are lost.
12. The vine has dried up, The fig tree withers, Pomegranate, palm, and apple -- All the trees of the field are sear. And joy has dried up Among men.
13. Gird yourselves and lament, O priests, Wail, O ministers of the altar; Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God. For offering and libation are withheld From the House of your God.
14. Solemnize a fast, Proclaim an assembly; Gather the elders -- all the inhabitants of the land -- In the House of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD.
15. Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near; It shall come like havoc from Shaddai.
16. For food is cut off Before our very eyes, And joy and gladness From the House of our God.
17. The seeds have shriveled Under their clods. The granaries are desolate, Barns are in ruins, For the new grain has failed.
18. How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are bewildered Because they have no pasture, And the flocks of sheep are dazed.
19. To You, O LORD, I call. For fire has consumed The pastures in the wilderness, And flame has devoured All the trees of the countryside.
20. The very beasts of the field Cry out to You; For the watercourses are dried up, And fire has consumed The pastures in the wilderness.
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