13 (A)Put on sackcloth
And mourn, you priests;
(B)Wail, you ministers of the altar!
Come, (C)spend the night in sackcloth,
You ministers of my God,
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Have been withheld from the house of your God.

Starvation and Drought

14 (D)Consecrate a fast,
Proclaim a (E)solemn assembly;
Gather the elders
And all the inhabitants of the land
To the house of the Lord your God,
And (F)cry out to the Lord.
15 (G)Woe for the day!
For the (H)day of the Lord is near,
And it will come as (I)destruction from the [a]Almighty.
16 Has (J)food not been cut off before our eyes, and
Joy and (K)rejoicing from the house of our God?
17 The [b](L)seeds have dried up under their shovels;
The storehouses have become desolate,
The grain silos are ruined,
Because the grain has dried up.
18 How (M)the animals have groaned!
The herds of cattle have wandered aimlessly
Because there is no pasture for them;
Even the flocks of sheep have [c]suffered.
19 (N)To You, Lord, I cry out;
For (O)fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the animals of the field [d](P)pant for You;
For the (Q)stream beds of water are dried up,
And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

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Footnotes

  1. Joel 1:15 Heb Shaddai
  2. Joel 1:17 Or dried figs
  3. Joel 1:18 Lit suffered punishment
  4. Joel 1:20 Or long for

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