A severe locust infestation has devastated the land, destroying crops and leaving nothing for the people or animals to eat. The people are called to lament and mourn the loss, and the priests are instructed to sanctify a fast and call an assembly to cry out to the Lord. The day of the Lord is near, bringing devastation and destruction, and the people's nourishment and joy have perished. The land is barren and dry, with even the animals suffering from the lack of food and water.
1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel 2 Listen to this, elders, and pay close attention, all inhabitants of the land. Did this ever happen in your days or in the days of your fathers 3 Talk this over with your sons, and your sons with their sons, and their sons with another generation 4 The locust has eaten what the caterpillar has left, and the beetle has eaten what the locust has left, and the mildew has eaten what the beetle has left 5 Rouse yourselves, you drunkards, and weep and wail, all you who delight in drinking wine; for it has been cut off from your mouth 6 For a nation has ascended over my land: strong and without number. His teeth are like the teeth of a lion, and his molars are like that of a lion’s young 7 He has put my vineyard into desolation, and he has pulled off the bark of my fig tree. He has stripped it bare and cast it away; its branches have become white 8 Lament like a betrothed virgin, wrapped in sackcloth at the loss of the husband of her youth 9 Sacrifice and libation have perished from the house of the Lord; the priests who are ministers of the Lord have mourned 10 The region has been depopulated, the soil has mourned. For the wheat has been devastated, the wine has been disfigured, the oil has languished 11 The farmers have been confounded, the vineyard workers have wailed over the crop and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished 12 The vineyard is in ruin, and the fig tree has languished. The pomegranate tree, and the palm tree, and the fruit tree, and all the trees of the field have withered. For joy has been thrown into disorder before the sons of men 13 Priests, gird yourselves and lament. Ministers of the altars, wail. Enter, ministers of my God, lie in sackcloth. For sacrifice and libation have passed away from the house of your God 14 Sanctify a fast, call an assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of your God. And cry out to the Lord 15 "Ah, ah, ah, the day!" For the day of the Lord is near, and it will arrive, like a devastation, before the powerful 16 Has not your nourishment perished from before your eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God 17 The mules have rotted in their own manure, the barns have been demolished, the wine cellars have been destroyed, because the grain has been ruined 18 Why have the animals groaned, the herds of cattle bellowed? because there is no pasture for them. Yes, and even the flocks of sheep have been lost 19 To you, O Lord, I will cry out, because fire has devoured the beauty of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the countryside 20 Yes, and even the beasts of the field have gazed up at you, like the dry ground thirsting for rain, because the fountains of waters have dried up, and fire has devoured the beauty of the wilderness