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¹ The ^(C1)word of the LORD that came to ^ORD is God."">(F1)^(C2)Joel, the son of Pethuel.

The Devastation of Locusts

^2 (C1)Hear this, O ^(C2)elders,
Listen closely, all inhabitants of the land!
^(C3)Has such a thing as this occurred in your days,
Or even in the days of your fathers?

^3 (C1)Tell your children about it,
And let your children tell their children,
And their children the next generation.

⁴ What the ^(C1)gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten;
And what the ^(C2)swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;
And what the creeping locust has left, the ^(C3)stripping locust has eaten in judgment of Judah.

⁵ Awake from your intoxication, you ^(C1)drunkards, and weep;
Wail, all you drinkers of wine,
Because of the fresh sweet wine
That is ^(C2)cut off from your mouth.

⁶ For a pagan and hostile ^(C1)nation has invaded My land like locusts,
Mighty and without number;
^(C2)Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And it has the fangs of a lioness. ^(VR1)

⁷ It has ^(C1)made My vine (My people) a waste and object of horror,
And splintered and broken My fig tree.
It has stripped them completely bare and thrown them away;
Their branches have become white. ^(VR1)

^8 (C1)Wail like a virgin bride ^(C2)clothed with ^(F1)sackcloth
For the bridegroom of her youth who has died.

⁹ The ^(C1)daily grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
From the house of the LORD;
The ^(C2)priests mourn
Who minister to the LORD.

¹⁰ The field is ^(C1)ruined,
^(C2)The ground mourns;
For the grain is ruined,
The new wine is dried up,
The fresh oil fails.

^11 (C1)Be ashamed, O farmers;
Wail, O vinedressers,
For the wheat and for the barley,
Because the ^(C2)harvest of the field has perished.

¹² The ^(C1)vine dries up
And the fig tree fails;
The ^(C2)pomegranate, the ^(C3)palm also, and the ^(C4)apple tree,
All the trees of the field dry up,
Indeed, ^(C5)joy dries up and withdraws
From the sons of men.

^13 (C1)Clothe yourselves with sackcloth
And lament (cry out in grief), O priests;
^(C2)Wail, O ministers of the altar!
Come, ^(C3)spend the night in sackcloth and pray without ceasing,
O ministers of my God,
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Are withheld from the house of your God.

Starvation and Drought

^14 (C1)Consecrate a fast,
Proclaim a ^(C2)solemn assembly,
Gather the elders
And all the inhabitants of the land
To the house of the LORD your God,
And ^(C3)cry out to the LORD in penitent pleadings.

^15 (C1)Alas for the day!
For the judgment ^(C2)day of the LORD is at hand,
And it will come upon the nation as a ^(C3)destruction from the ^(F1)Almighty. ^(VR1)

¹⁶ Has not the ^(C1)food been cut off before our eyes,
^(C2)Joy and gladness from the house of our God?

¹⁷ The ^(C1)seeds of grain shrivel under the clods,
The storehouses are desolate and empty,
The barns are in ruins
Because the grain is dried up.

¹⁸ How ^(C1)the animals groan!
The herds of cattle are bewildered and wander aimlessly
Because they have no pasture;
Even the flocks of sheep suffer.

¹⁹ O LORD, I cry out ^(C1)to You,
For ^(C2)fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.

²⁰ Even the wild animals ^(C1)pant in longing for You;
For the ^(C2)water brooks are dried up
And fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness.