Joel 1

The Devastation of Locusts

1 The 1word of the LORD that came to 2Joel, the son of Pethuel:
2 3Hear this, O 4elders, And listen, all inhabitants of the land. 5Has anything like this happened in your days Or in your fathers' days?
3 6Tell your sons about it, And let your sons tell their sons, And their sons the next generation.
4 What the 7gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; And what the 8swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten; And what the creeping locust has left, the 9stripping locust has eaten.
5 Awake, 10drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you wine drinkers, On account of the sweet wine That is 11cut off from your mouth.
6 For a 12nation has [a]invaded my land, Mighty and without number; 13Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, And it has the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has 14made my vine a waste And my fig tree [b]splinters. It has stripped them bare and cast them away; Their branches have become white.
8 15Wail like a virgin 16girded with sackcloth For the bridegroom of her youth.
9 The 17grain offering and the drink offering are cut off From the house of the LORD. The 18priests mourn, The ministers of the LORD.
10 The field is 19ruined, 20The land mourns; For the grain is ruined, The new wine dries up, Fresh oil [c]fails.
11 [d]21Be ashamed, O farmers, Wail, O vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the 22harvest of the field is destroyed.
12 The 23vine dries up And the fig tree [e]fails; The 24pomegranate, the 25palm also, and the [f]26apple tree, All the trees of the field dry up. Indeed, 27rejoicing dries up From the sons of men.
13 28Gird yourselves with sackcloth And lament, O priests; 29Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, 30spend the night in sackcloth O ministers of my God, For the grain offering and the drink offering Are withheld from the house of your God.

Starvation and Drought

14 31Consecrate a fast, Proclaim a 32solemn assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land To the house of the LORD your God, And 33cry out to the LORD.
15 34Alas for the day! For the 35day of the LORD is near, And it will come as 36destruction from the [g]Almighty.
16 Has not 37food been cut off before our eyes, Gladness and 38joy from the house of our God?
17 The [h]39seeds shrivel under their [i]clods; The storehouses are desolate, The barns are torn down, For the grain is dried up.
18 How 40the beasts groan! The herds of cattle wander aimlessly Because there is no pasture for them; Even the flocks of sheep [j]suffer.
19 41To You, O LORD, I cry; For 42fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the beasts of the field [k]43pant for You; For the 44water brooks are dried up And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Cross References 44

  • 1. Jeremiah 1:2; Ezekiel 1:3; Hosea 1:1
  • 2. Acts 2:16
  • 3. Hosea 4:1; Hosea 5:1
  • 4. Job 8:8; Joel 1:14
  • 5. Jeremiah 30:7; Joel 2:2
  • 6. Exodus 10:2; Psalms 78:4
  • 7. Deuteronomy 28:38; Joel 2:25; Amos 4:9
  • 8. Nahum 3:15, 16
  • 9. Isaiah 33:4
  • 10. Joel 3:3
  • 11. Isaiah 32:10
  • 12. Joel 2:2, 11, 25
  • 13. Revelation 9:8
  • 14. Isaiah 5:6; Amos 4:9
  • 15. Isaiah 22:12
  • 16. Joel 1:13; Amos 8:10
  • 17. Hosea 9:4; Joel 1:13; Joel 2:14
  • 18. Joel 2:17
  • 19. Isaiah 24:4, 7
  • 20. Jeremiah 12:11
  • 21. Jeremiah 14:4; Amos 5:16
  • 22. Isaiah 17:11; Jeremiah 9:12
  • 23. Joel 1:10; Habakkuk 3:17
  • 24. Haggai 2:19
  • 25. Song of Songs 7:8
  • 26. Song of Songs 2:3
  • 27. Isaiah 16:10; Isaiah 24:11; Jeremiah 48:33
  • 28. Jeremiah 4:8; Ezekiel 7:18
  • 29. Jeremiah 9:10
  • 30. 1 Kings 21:27
  • 31. Joel 2:15, 16
  • 32. Leviticus 23:36
  • 33. Jonah 3:8
  • 34. Isaiah 13:9; Jeremiah 30:7; Amos 5:16
  • 35. Joel 2:1, 11, 31
  • 36. Isaiah 13:6; Ezekiel 7:2-12
  • 37. Isaiah 3:7; Amos 4:6
  • 38. Deuteronomy 12:7; Psalms 43:4
  • 39. Isaiah 17:10, 11
  • 40. 1 Kings 8:5; Jeremiah 12:4; Jeremiah 14:5, 6; Hosea 4:3
  • 41. Psalms 50:15; Micah 7:7
  • 42. Jeremiah 9:10; Amos 7:4
  • 43. Psalms 104:21; Psalms 147:9; Joel 1:18
  • 44. 1 Kings 17:7; 1 Kings 18:5

Footnotes 11

Joel 1 Commentaries

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