Joel 1

₁I am Joel the son of Pethuel.

And this is the message

the LORD gave to me.

₂Listen, you leaders

and everyone else

in the land.

Has anything like this

ever happened before?

₃Tell our children!

Let it be told

to our grandchildren

and their children too.

₄Swarm after swarm of locusts

has attacked our crops,

eating everything in sight.

₅Sober up, you drunkards!

Cry long and loud;

your wine supply is gone.

₆A powerful nation

with countless troops

has invaded our land.

They have the teeth and jaws

of powerful lions.

₇Our grapevines and fig trees

are stripped bare;

only naked branches remain.

₈Grieve like a young woman

mourning for the man

she was to marry.

₉Offerings of grain and wine

are no longer brought

to the LORD's temple.

His servants, the priests,

are deep in sorrow.

₁₀Barren fields mourn;

grain, grapes, and olives

are scorched and shrivelled.

₁₁Mourn for our farms

and our vineyards!

There's no wheat or barley

growing in our fields.

₁₂Grapevines have dried up

and so has every tree—

figs and pomegranates,

date palms and apples.

All happiness has faded away.

₁₃Mourn, you priests who serve

at the altar of my God.

Spend your days and nights

wearing sackcloth.

Offerings of grain and wine

are no longer brought

to the LORD's temple.

₁₄Tell the leaders and people

to come together

at the temple.

Order them to go without eating

and to pray sincerely.

₁₅We are in for trouble!

Soon the LORD All-Powerful

will bring disaster.

₁₆Our food is already gone;

there's no more celebrating

at the temple of our God.

₁₇Seeds dry up in the ground;

no harvest is possible.

Our barns are in bad shape,

with no grain

to store in them.

₁₈Our cattle wander aimlessly,

moaning for lack of pasture,

and sheep are suffering.

₁₉I cry out to you, LORD.

Grasslands and forests are eaten

by the scorching heat.

₂₀Wild animals have no water

because of you;

rivers and streams are dry,

and pastures are parched.