Study Desk

The ^(C1)word of the LORD that came to ^(C2)Joel, the son of Pethuel:

^(C1)Hear this, you ^(C2)elders, And listen, all inhabitants of the land. ^(C3)Has anything like this happened in your days, Or in your fathers' days?

^(C1)Tell your sons about it, And have your sons tell their sons, And their sons the next generation.

What the ^(C1)gnawing locust has left, the ^(F1)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.

Awake, ^(C1)you heavy drinkers, and weep; And wail, all you wine drinkers, Because of the sweet wine, For it has been ^(C2)eliminated from your mouth.

For a ^(C1)nation has ^(F1)invaded my land, Mighty and without number; ^(C2)Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, And it has the jaws of a lioness.

It has ^(C1)made my vine a waste And my fig tree a stump. It has stripped them bare and hurled them away; Their branches have become white.

^(C1)Wail like a virgin ^(C2)clothed with sackcloth For the groom of her youth.

The ^(C1)grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off From the house of the LORD. The ^(C2)priests mourn, The ministers of the LORD.

The field is ^(C1)ruined, ^(C2)The land mourns; For the grain is ruined, The new wine has dried up, Fresh oil has ^(F1)failed.

^(C1)Be ashamed, you farm workers, Wail, you vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the ^(C2)harvest of the field is destroyed.

The ^(C1)vine has dried up And the fig tree has withered; The ^(C2)pomegranate, the ^(C3)palm also, and the ^(C4)apple tree, All the trees of the field have dried up. Indeed, ^(C5)joy has dried up From the sons of mankind.

^(C1)Put on sackcloth And mourn, you priests; ^(C2)Wail, you ministers of the altar! Come, ^(C3)spend the night in sackcloth, You ministers of my God, For the grain offering and the drink offering Have been withheld from the house of your God.

^(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.

^(C1)Woe for the day! For the ^(C2)day of the LORD is near, And it will come as ^(C3)destruction from the ^(F1)Almighty.

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

The ^(F1)(C1)seeds have dried up under their shovels; The storehouses have become desolate, The grain silos are ruined, Because the grain has dried up.

How ^(C1)the animals have groaned! The herds of cattle have wandered aimlessly Because there is no pasture for them; Even the flocks of sheep have ^(F1)suffered.

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

Even the animals of the field ^(F1)(C1)pant for You; For the ^(C2)stream beds of water are dried up, And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

^(C1)Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the ^(C2)day of the LORD is coming; Indeed, it is near,

A day of ^(C1)darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness. As dawn is spread over the mountains, So there is a ^(C2)great and mighty people; There has ^(C3)never been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it To the years of many generations.

A ^(C1)fire consumes before them, And behind them a flame devours. The land is ^(C2)like the Garden of Eden before them, But a ^(C3)desolate wilderness behind them, And nothing at all escapes them.

Their ^(C1)appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run.

^(F1)With a ^(C1)noise as of chariots They leap about on the tops of the mountains, Like the ^(F2)crackling of a ^(C2)flame of fire consuming the stubble, Like a mighty people drawn up for battle.

Before them the people are in ^(C1)anguish; All ^(C2)faces ^(F1)turn pale.

They run like warriors, They climb the wall like soldiers; And each of them ^(C1)marches ^(F1)in line, Nor do they lose their way.

They do not crowd each other, Every warrior of them marches in his path; When they ^(F1)burst through the ^(F2)defenses, They do not break ranks.

They storm the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the ^(C1)houses, They ^(C2)enter through the windows like a thief.

Before them the earth ^(C1)quakes, The heavens tremble, The ^(C2)sun and the moon become dark, And the stars lose their brightness.

The LORD ^(C1)utters His voice before ^(C2)His army; His camp is indeed very great, For ^(C3)mighty is one who carries out His word. The ^(C4)day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome, And ^(C5)who can endure it?

"Yet even now," declares the LORD, "^(C1)Return to Me with all your heart, And with ^(C2)fasting, weeping, and mourning;

And ^(C1)tear your heart and not merely ^(C2)your garments." Now return to the LORD your God, For He is ^(C3)gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in mercy And ^(C4)relenting of catastrophe.

Who knows, ^(C1)He might turn and relent, And leave a ^(C2)blessing behind Him, Resulting in ^(C3)a grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God.

^(C1)Blow a trumpet in Zion, ^(C2)Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,

Gather the people, ^(C1)sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and the nursing infants. Have the ^(C2)groom come out of his room And the bride out of her bridal chamber.

Let the priests, the LORD'S ministers, Weep ^(C1)between the porch and the altar, And let them say, "^(F1)(C2)Spare Your people, LORD, And do not make Your inheritance a ^(C3)disgrace, With the nations jeering at them. Why should those among the peoples say, '^(C4)Where is their God?'"