Joel Chapter 1

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

2Hear ye this, O Elders, and hearken ye all inhabitants of the land, whether such a thing hath been in your days, or yet in the days of your fathers.

3Tell you your children of it, and let your children show to their children, and their children, to another generation.

4That which is left of the palmerworm, hath the grasshopper eaten, and the residue of the grasshopper hath the cankerworm eaten, and the residue of the cankerworm hath the caterpillar eaten.

5Awake ye drunkards, and weep and howl all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it shall be pulled from your mouth.

6Yea, a nation cometh upon my land, mighty and without number, whose teeth are like the teeth of a lion, and he hath the jaws of a great lion.

7He maketh my vine waste, and pilleth off the bark of my fig tree: he maketh it bare, and casteth it down: the branches thereof are made white.

8Mourn like a virgin girded with sackcloth, for the husband of her youth.

9The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord: the Priests the Lord’s ministers mourn.

10The field is wasted: the land mourneth: for the corn is destroyed: the new wine is dried up, and the oil is decayed.

11Be ye ashamed, O husbandmen: howl, O ye vinedressers for the wheat and for the barley, because the harvest of the field is perished.

12The vine is dried up, and the fig tree is decayed: the pomegranate tree and the palm tree, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field are withered: surely the joy is withered away from the sons of men.

13Gird yourselves and lament ye Priests: howl ye ministers of the altar: come, and lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering, and the drink offering is taken away from the house of your God.

14Sanctify you 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,

15Alas: for the day, for the day of the Lord is at hand, and it cometh as a destruction from the Almighty.

16Is not the meat cut off before our eyes? and joy, and gladness from the house of our God?

17The seed is rotten under their clods: the garners are destroyed: the barns are broken down, for the corn is withered.

18How did the beasts mourn! the herds of cattle pine away, because they have no pasture, and the flocks of sheep are destroyed.

19O Lord, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burnt up all the trees of the field.

20The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the river of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.