1 The 1word of the LORD that came to 2Joel, the son of Pethuel:
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3Hearthis, O 4elders, And listen, allinhabitants of the land. 5Has anything like thishappened in your daysOr in your fathers'days?
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6Tell your sons about it, And let your sons tell their sons, And their sons the nextgeneration.
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What the 7gnawinglocust has left, the swarminglocust has eaten; And what the 8swarminglocust has left, the creepinglocust has eaten; And what the creepinglocust has left, the 9strippinglocust has eaten.
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Awake, 10drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you winedrinkers, On account of the sweetwine That is 11cutoff from your mouth.
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For a 12nation has [a]invaded my land, Mighty and withoutnumber; 13Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, And it has the fangs of a lioness.
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It has 14made my vine a waste And my figtree[b]splinters. It has stripped them bare and cast them away; Their branches have becomewhite.
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15Wail like a virgin16girded with sackcloth For the bridegroom of her youth.
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The 17grain offering and the drinkoffering are cutoff From the house of the LORD. The 18priestsmourn, The ministers of the LORD.
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The field is 19ruined, 20The landmourns; For the grain is ruined, The newwinedries up, Freshoil[c]fails.
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[d]21Be ashamed, O farmers, Wail, O vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the 22harvest of the field is destroyed.
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The 23vinedries up And the figtree[e]fails; The 24pomegranate, the 25palmalso, and the [f]26appletree, All the trees of the fielddry up. Indeed, 27rejoicingdries up From the sons of men.
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28Girdyourselves 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 drinkoffering Are withheld from the house of your God.
Starvation and Drought
1431Consecrate a fast, Proclaim a 32solemnassembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land To the house of the LORD your God, And 33cry out to the LORD.
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34Alas for the day! For the 35day of the LORD is near, And it will come as 36destruction from the [g]Almighty.
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Has not 37food been cutoffbefore our eyes, Gladness and 38joy from the house of our God?
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The [h]39seedsshrivelunder their [i]clods; The storehouses are desolate, The barns are torndown, For the grain is dried up.
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How40the beastsgroan! The herds of cattlewanderaimlesslyBecausethere is nopasture for them; Even the flocks of sheep[j]suffer.
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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.
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Even the beasts of the field[k]43pant for You; For the 44waterbrooks are dried up And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.