Study Desk

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

^(c)Hear this, O ^(d)elders, And listen, all inhabitants of the land. ^(e)Has anything like this happened in your days Or in your fathers' days?

^(f)Tell your sons about it, And let your sons tell their sons, And their sons the next generation.

What the ^(g)gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; And what the ^(h)swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten; And what the creeping locust has left, the ⁽ⁱ⁾stripping locust has eaten.

Awake, ^(j)drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you wine drinkers, On account of the sweet wine That is ^(k)cut off from your mouth.

For a ^(l)nation has ^[a]invaded my land, Mighty and without number; ^(m)Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, And it has the fangs of a lioness.

It has ⁽ⁿ⁾made my vine a waste And my fig tree ^[b]splinters. It has stripped them bare and cast them away; Their branches have become white.

^(o)Wail like a virgin ^(p)girded with sackcloth For the bridegroom of her youth.

The ^(q)grain offering and the drink offering are cut off From the house of the Lord . The ^(r)priests mourn, The ministers of the Lord .

The field is ^(s)ruined, ^(t)The land mourns; For the grain is ruined, The new wine dries up, Fresh oil ^[c]fails.

^[d](u)Be ashamed, O farmers, Wail, O vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the ^(v)harvest of the field is destroyed.

The ^(w)vine dries up And the fig tree ^[e]fails; The ^(x)pomegranate, the ^(y)palm also, and the ^[f](z)apple tree, All the trees of the field dry up. Indeed, ^(aa)rejoicing dries up From the sons of men.

^(ab)Gird yourselves with sackcloth And lament, O priests; ^(ac)Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, ^(ad)spend 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.

^(ae)Consecrate a fast, Proclaim a ^(af)solemn assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land To the house of the Lord your God, And ^(ag)cry out to the Lord .

^(ah)Alas for the day! For the ^(ai)day of the Lord is near, And it will come as ^(aj)destruction from the ^[g]Almighty.

Has not ^(ak)food been cut off before our eyes, Gladness and ^(al)joy from the house of our God?

The ^[h](am)seeds shrivel under their ^[i]clods; The storehouses are desolate, The barns are torn down, For the grain is dried up.

How ^(an)the beasts groan! The herds of cattle wander aimlessly Because there is no pasture for them; Even the flocks of sheep ^[j]suffer.

^(ao)To You, O Lord , I cry; For ^(ap)fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.

Even the beasts of the field ^[k](aq)pant for You; For the ^(ar)water brooks are dried up And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.