¶ The word¹ of the LORD that came to² Joel the son of Pethuel.

Hear³ this, ye old⁴ men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath⁵ this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?

⁶Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.

That which the palmerworm hath left⁷ hath the locust eaten⁸; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten⁹; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.

Awake¹¹, ye drunkards, and weep¹²; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for¹³ it is cut off from your mouth.

For a nation¹⁴ is come up upon my¹⁵ land, strong, and without number, whose¹⁶ teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.

He hath laid¹⁷ my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

¶ Lament¹⁹ like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband²⁰ of her youth.

The meat²¹ offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests²², the LORD'S²³ ministers, mourn.

¶ The field²⁴ is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new²⁵ wine is dried up²⁶, the oil languisheth.

Be ye ashamed²⁷, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because²⁸ the harvest of the field is perished.

The vine²⁹ is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate³⁰ tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy³¹ is withered away from the sons of men.

Gird³² yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers³³ of the altar: come, lie³⁴ all night in sackcloth, ye ministers³⁵ of my God: for³⁶ the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.

¶ Sanctify³⁷ ye a fast, call a solemn assembly³⁸, gather the elders³⁹ and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry⁴⁰ unto the LORD,

Alas⁴¹ for the day! for the day of⁴² the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

Is not the meat⁴³ cut off before our eyes, yea, joy⁴⁴ and gladness from the house of our God?

The seed⁴⁵ is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.

⁴⁶How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

O LORD, to thee⁴⁷ will I cry: for the fire⁴⁸ hath devoured the pastures⁴⁹ of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.

¶ The beasts of the field cry⁵⁰ also unto thee: for the rivers⁵¹ of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.