Study Desk

The word of the Lord that came^(a) to Joel^(b) son of Pethuel.

Hear this,^(c) you elders;^(d) listen, all who live in the land.^(e) Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors?^(f)

Tell it to your children,^(g) and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.^(h)

What the locust⁽ⁱ⁾ swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left^(j) other locusts^[a] have eaten.^(k)

Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine;^(l) wail because of the new wine, for it has been snatched^(m) from your lips.

A nation has invaded my land, a mighty army without number;⁽ⁿ⁾ it has the teeth^(o) of a lion, the fangs of a lioness.

It has laid waste^(p) my vines and ruined my fig trees.^(q) It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white.

Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth^(r) grieving for the betrothed of her youth.

Grain offerings and drink offerings^(s) are cut off from the house of the Lord . The priests are in mourning,^(t) those who minister before the Lord .

The fields are ruined, the ground is dried up;^(u) the grain is destroyed, the new wine^(v) is dried up, the olive oil fails.^(w)

Despair, you farmers,^(x) wail, you vine growers; grieve for the wheat and the barley,^(y) because the harvest of the field is destroyed.^(z)

The vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered;^(aa) the pomegranate,^(ab) the palm and the apple^[b] tree— all the trees of the field—are dried up.^(ac) Surely the people's joy is withered away.

Put on sackcloth,^(ad) you priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister^(ae) before the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings^(af) are withheld from the house of your God.

Declare a holy fast;^(ag) call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land^(ah) to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out^(ai) to the Lord .^(aj)

Alas for that^(ak) day! For the day of the Lord ^(al) is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.^[c](am)

Has not the food been cut off^(an) before our very eyes— joy and gladness^(ao) from the house of our God?^(ap)

The seeds are shriveled beneath the clods.^[d](aq) The storehouses are in ruins, the granaries have been broken down, for the grain has dried up.

How the cattle moan! The herds mill about because they have no pasture;^(ar) even the flocks of sheep are suffering.^(as)

To you, Lord , I call,^(at) for fire^(au) has devoured the pastures^(av) in the wilderness and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.

Even the wild animals pant for you;^(aw) the streams of water have dried up^(ax) and fire has devoured the pastures^(ay) in the wilderness.

Blow the trumpet^(a) in Zion;^(b) sound the alarm on my holy hill.^(c) Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord ^(d) is coming. It is close at hand^(e)—

a day of darkness^(f) and gloom,^(g) a day of clouds^(h) and blackness.⁽ⁱ⁾ Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army^(j) comes, such as never was in ancient times^(k) nor ever will be in ages to come.

Before them fire^(l) devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,^(m) behind them, a desert waste⁽ⁿ⁾— nothing escapes them.

They have the appearance of horses;^(o) they gallop along like cavalry.

With a noise like that of chariots^(p) they leap over the mountaintops, like a crackling fire^(q) consuming stubble, like a mighty army drawn up for battle.

At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;^(r) every face turns pale.^(s)

They charge like warriors;^(t) they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line,^(u) not swerving^(v) from their course.

They do not jostle each other; each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defenses without breaking ranks.

They rush upon the city; they run along the wall. They climb into the houses;^(w) like thieves they enter through the windows.^(x)

Before them the earth shakes,^(y) the heavens tremble,^(z) the sun and moon are darkened,^(aa) and the stars no longer shine.^(ab)

The Lord ^(ac) thunders^(ad) at the head of his army;^(ae) his forces are beyond number, and mighty is the army that obeys his command. The day of the Lord is great;^(af) it is dreadful. Who can endure it?^(ag)

"Even now," declares the Lord , "return^(ah) to me with all your heart,^(ai) with fasting and weeping and mourning."

Rend your heart^(aj) and not your garments.^(ak) Return^(al) to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate,^(am) slow to anger and abounding in love,^(an) and he relents from sending calamity.^(ao)

Who knows? He may turn^(ap) and relent^(aq) and leave behind a blessing^(ar)— grain offerings and drink offerings^(as) for the Lord your God.

Blow the trumpet^(at) in Zion,^(au) declare a holy fast,^(av) call a sacred assembly.^(aw)

Gather the people, consecrate^(ax) the assembly; bring together the elders,^(ay) gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom^(az) leave his room and the bride her chamber.

Let the priests, who minister^(ba) before the Lord , weep^(bb) between the portico and the altar.^(bc) Let them say, "Spare your people, Lord . Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,^(bd) a byword^(be) among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?^(bf)'"