Joel 1-3

English Standard Version

⁴ What ^(F)the cutting locust left,
    ^(G)the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
    ^(H)the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
    ^(I)the destroying locust has eaten.

⁵ Awake, you drunkards, and weep,
    and ^(J)wail, all you drinkers of wine,
because of ^(K)the sweet wine,
    for it is cut off from your mouth.
⁶ For ^(L)a nation has come up against my land,
    ^(M)powerful and beyond number;
^(N)its teeth are lions' teeth,
    and it has the fangs of a lioness.
⁷ It has laid waste my vine
    and splintered my ^(O)fig tree;
it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
    their branches are made white.

⁸ Lament like a virgin^{[a] (P)}wearing sackcloth
    for the bridegroom of her youth.
^9 (Q)The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
    from the house of the Lord.
^(R)The priests mourn,
    ^(S)the ministers of the Lord.
¹⁰ The fields are destroyed,
    ^(T)the ground mourns,
because ^(U)the grain is destroyed,
    ^(V)the wine dries up,
    the oil languishes.

^11 (W)Be ashamed,^[b] O tillers of the soil;
    wail, O vinedressers,
for the wheat and the barley,
    ^(X)because the harvest of the field has perished.
¹² The vine dries up;
    ^(Y)the fig tree languishes.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple,
    all the trees of the field are dried up,
and ^(Z)gladness dries up
    from the children of man.

^14 (AG)Consecrate a fast;
    ^(AH)call a solemn assembly.
Gather ^(AI)the elders
    and ^(AJ)all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
    and cry out to the Lord.

¹⁵ Alas for the day!
^(AK)For the day of the Lord is near,
    and as destruction from the Almighty^[c] it comes.
¹⁶ Is not the food cut off
    before our eyes,
^(AL)joy and gladness
    from the house of our God?

^17 (AM)The seed shrivels under the clods;^[d]
    the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
    because ^(AN)the grain has dried up.
¹⁸ How ^(AO)the beasts groan!
    The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
    even the flocks of sheep suffer.^[e]

¹⁹ To you, ^(AP)O Lord, I call.
^(AQ)For fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness,
^(AR)and flame has burned
    all the trees of the field.
²⁰ Even the beasts of the field ^(AS)pant for you
    because the water brooks are dried up,
^(AT)and fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness.

^3 (BC)Fire devours before them,
    and behind them a flame burns.
The land is like ^(BD)the garden of Eden before them,
    but ^(BE)behind them a desolate wilderness,
    and nothing escapes them.

^4 (BF)Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
    and like war horses they run.
^5 (BG)As with the rumbling of chariots,
    they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of ^(BH)a flame of fire
    devouring the stubble,
^(BI)like a powerful army
    drawn up for battle.

⁶ Before them peoples are in anguish;
    ^(BJ)all faces grow pale.
⁷ Like warriors they charge;
    like soldiers they scale the wall.
They march each on his way;
    they do not swerve from their paths.
⁸ They do not jostle one another;
    ^(BK)each marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
    and are not halted.
^9 (BL)They leap upon the city,
    they run upon the walls,
^(BM)they climb up into the houses,
    ^(BN)they enter through the windows ^(BO)like a thief.

^10 (BP)The earth quakes before them;
    the heavens tremble.
^(BQ)The sun and the moon are darkened,
    and the stars withdraw their shining.
^11 (BR)The Lord utters his voice
    before ^(BS)his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
    ^(BT)he who executes his word is powerful.
^(BU)For the day of the Lord is ^(BV)great and very awesome;
    ^(BW)who can endure it?

^15 (CG)Blow the trumpet in Zion;
    ^(CH)consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
¹⁶     gather the people.
^(CI)Consecrate the congregation;
    assemble the elders;
^(CJ)gather the children,
    even nursing infants.
^(CK)Let the bridegroom leave his room,
    and the bride her chamber.

^17 (CL)Between the ^(CM)vestibule and the ^(CN)altar
    ^(CO)let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
    and make not your heritage a reproach,
    a byword among the nations.^[f]
(CP)Why should they say among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?’”

²⁰ “I will remove the northerner far from you,
    and drive him into a parched and desolate land,
his vanguard^[g] into ^(CU)the eastern sea,
    and his rear guard^[h] into ^(CV)the western sea;
^(CW)the stench and foul smell of him will rise,
    for he has done great things.

²¹ “Fear not, O land;
    be glad and rejoice,
    for ^(CX)the Lord has done great things!
²² Fear not, ^(CY)you beasts of the field,
    for ^(CZ)the pastures of the wilderness are green;
^(DA)the tree bears its fruit;
    the fig tree and ^(DB)vine give their full yield.

^23 (DC)“Be glad, O children of Zion,
    and ^(DD)rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given ^(DE)the early rain for your vindication;
    he has poured down for you abundant rain,
    ^(DF)the early and ^(DG)the latter rain, as before.

²⁴ “The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
    the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
²⁵ I will restore^[i] to you the years
    that ^(DH)the swarming locust has eaten,
^(DI)the hopper, ^(DJ)the destroyer, and ^(DK)the cutter,
    ^(DL)my great army, which I sent among you.

^26 (DM)“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
    and praise the name of the Lord your God,
    who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people ^(DN)shall never again be put to shame.
^27 (DO)You shall know that I am ^(DP)in the midst of Israel,
    and that ^(DQ)I am the Lord your God ^(DR)and there is none else.
And my people ^(DS)shall never again be put to shame.

⁹ Proclaim this among the nations:
^(ER)Consecrate for war;^[m]
    stir up the mighty men.
Let all the men of war draw near;
    let them come up.
^10 (ES)Beat your plowshares into swords,
    and ^(ET)your pruning hooks into spears;
    let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”

^11 (EU)Hasten and come,
    all you surrounding nations,
    and gather yourselves there.
^(EV)Bring down your warriors, O Lord.
¹² Let the nations stir themselves up
    and come up to ^(EW)the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
^(EX)for there I will sit to judge
    all the surrounding nations.

^13 (EY)Put in the sickle,
    ^(EZ)for the harvest is ripe.
^(FA)Go in, tread,
    ^(FB)for the winepress is full.
The vats overflow,
    for their evil is great.

¹⁴ Multitudes, multitudes,
    in the valley of decision!
For ^(FC)the day of the Lord is near
    in the valley of decision.
^15 (FD)The sun and the moon are darkened,
    and the stars withdraw their shining.

^16 (FE)The Lord roars from Zion,
    and ^(FF)utters his voice from Jerusalem,
    ^(FG)and the heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is ^(FH)a refuge to his people,
    a stronghold to the people of Israel.

¹⁸ “And in that day
^(FM)the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
    and the hills shall flow with milk,
and ^(FN)all the streambeds of Judah
    shall flow with water;
^(FO)and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord
    and water the Valley of ^(FP)Shittim.

^19 (FQ)“Egypt shall become a desolation
    and ^(FR)Edom a desolate wilderness,
^(FS)for the violence done to the people of Judah,
    because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
^20 (FT)But Judah shall be inhabited forever,
    and Jerusalem to all generations.
^21 (FU)I will avenge their blood,
    blood I have not avenged,^{[n]
    (FV)}for the Lord dwells in Zion.”