1 The
word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. 2 Hear
this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this
been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell
ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and
their children another generation. 4 That
which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the
locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm
hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. 5 Awake,
ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of
the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. 6 For
a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth
are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. 7 He
hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean
bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. 8 Lament
like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. 9 The
meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the
LORD; the priests, the LORD's ministers, mourn. 10 The
field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine
is dried up, the oil languisheth. 11 Be
ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and
for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
12
The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree,
the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field,
are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men. 13 Gird
yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come,
lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering
and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. 14 Sanctify
ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants
of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD, 15 Alas
for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from
the Almighty shall it come. 16 Is
not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house
of our God? 17 The
seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns
are broken down; for the corn is withered. 18 How
do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have
no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. 19 O LORD,
to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. 20 The
beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried
up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.