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Joel 1
Common English Bible
Joel 1
Common English Bible
Song of lament
1 The Lord’s word that came to Joel, Pethuel’s son:
2 Hear this, elders;
pay attention, everyone in the land!
Has anything like this ever happened in your days,
or in the days of your ancestors?[a]
3 Tell it to your children,
and have your children tell their children,
and their children tell their children.
4 What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten.
And what the hopping locust left,
the devouring locust has eaten.[b]
5 Wake up, you who drink too much, and weep.
Scream over the sweet wine,
all you wine drinkers,
because it is snatched from your mouth;
6 because a nation, powerful and beyond number,
has invaded my land.
Its teeth are like lions’ teeth;
its fangs are like those of a lioness.
7 It has destroyed my vines,
splintered my fig trees,
stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
their branches have turned white.
8 Lament like a woman dressed in funeral clothing,
one who has lost the husband of her youth.
9 The grain offering and the drink offering are gone from the Lord’s temple.
The priests and the Lord’s ministers mourn.
10 The fields are devastated,
the ground mourns;
for the grain is destroyed,
the new wine dries up,
the olive oil fails.
11 Be shocked, you farmers;
howl, you vinedressers,
over the wheat and the barley,
for the crops of the field are destroyed.
12 The grapevine is dried up;
the fig tree withers.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple—
all the trees of the field are dried up.
Joy fades away from the people.[c]
Call to mourn
13 Dress for a funeral and grieve, you priests;
lament, ministers of the altar.
Come, spend the night in funeral clothing, servants of my God,
because the grain offering and the drink offering
have gone from the temple of your God.
14 Demand a fast,
request a special assembly.
Gather the elders
and all the land’s people
to the temple of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
Time of suffering
15 What a terrible day!
The day of the Lord is near;
it comes like chaos from the Almighty.[d]
16 Isn’t the food cut off
right before our eyes?
Aren’t joy and gladness also gone from our God’s house?
17 The grain shrivels under the shovels;[e]
the barns are empty.
The granaries are in ruin
because the grain has dried up.
18 How the animals groan!
Herds of cattle are in distress
because there is no pasture for them;
even the flocks of sheep pant.
The prophet’s prayer
19 To you, Lord, I cry,
for fire has completely destroyed
the pastures of the wilderness;
and flames have burned
all the trees of the field.
20 Even the field’s wild animals cry to you
because the streams have dried up;
the fire has completely destroyed
the meadows of the wilderness.
Joel 1
New International Version
Joel 1
New International Version
1 The word of the Lord that came(A) to Joel(B) son of Pethuel.
An Invasion of Locusts
2 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)
3 Tell it to your children,(G)
and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.(H)
4 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)
5 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.
6 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.
7 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.
8 Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth(R)
grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
9 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.
10 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)
11 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)
12 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.
A Call to Lamentation
13 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.
14 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)
15 Alas for that(AK) day!
For the day of the Lord(AL) is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.[c](AM)
16 Has not the food been cut off(AN)
before our very eyes—
joy and gladness(AO)
from the house of our God?(AP)
17 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.
18 How the cattle moan!
The herds mill about
because they have no pasture;(AR)
even the flocks of sheep are suffering.(AS)
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.