Joel 1

Locusts eat all the plants in Israel

1 This is the Lord's message that he gave to Joel, son of Pethuel.

2 You leaders of Israel, listen to this!

Listen carefully, everyone who lives in this country.

Nothing like this has happened while you have been alive.

And it never happened when your ancestors were alive.

3 Tell your children about it.

They must tell it to their children,

who must also tell their own children.

4 Great armies of locusts have eaten all our crops.

Any leaves that first army of locusts left,

the second army has eaten.

And anything that the second army left,

the next army has eaten.

Another army of locusts has eaten what remains.

And finally another army has completely destroyed everything.

5 Wake up and weep, you people who have drunk too much wine!

Everyone who likes to drink wine, cry loudly!

Weep, because your new wine has disappeared.

Nothing remains for you to drink!

6 A great army has attacked our land.

It has too many soldiers for us to count!

They have teeth like a lion's teeth.

Their teeth are strong and sharp.

7 They have destroyed our vines.

They have cut our fig trees into pieces.

They have cut off the bark

so that the branches are white.

Joel tells the people to be sad and cry

8 Cry loudly, like a young woman who is wearing sackcloth.

She is crying at the funeral of the man that she hoped to marry.

9 There is no grain or wine that we can bring

as offerings to the Lord's temple.

So the priests who serve the Lord are weeping.

10 The fields have no crops in them.

The ground is dry and empty.

There is no grain.

There are no grapes to make new wine.

There is no olive oil.

11 You farmers should be very upset.

You people who take care of the vines must cry loudly.

Cry because there is no wheat or barley.

There are no crops to bring home for food.

12 The vines and the fig trees have no water

and they are dying.

There are no pomegranates, dates or apples on the trees.

None of the trees have any fruit.

And none of the people have any joy.

Joel tells people to turn away from their sins

13 You priests, dress yourselves in funeral clothes!

Weep as you serve the Lord at his altar.

You servants of my God,

wear sackcloth every night.

Weep, because no one brings offerings to the temple of your God.

There is no more grain or wine for people to bring as offerings.

14 Tell people that they must fast.

They must meet together to worship the Lord.

Speak to the leaders and all the people who live in this country.

Tell them all to come to the house of the Lord your God

They must call to the Lord for help.

15 That will be a terrible day!

The day of the Lord will soon come.

It will be a day when God Almighty brings great trouble.

16 We stand and we watch

as all our food has disappeared!

The temple of our God is no longer a place

where we are happy.

17 The seeds have died in the dry ground.

There are no crops to store at harvest time.

We have knocked down our store rooms

because there is no grain to put in them.

18 The cows move around as they look for grass to eat.

You can hear them cry because they are so hungry.

Even the sheep are suffering.

19 Lord, I call to you for help.

Heat, like fire, has destroyed the grass in the fields.

It has destroyed all the trees.

20 Even the wild animals are so thirsty

that they call to you for help.

The rivers have become dry.

Heat, like fire, has destroyed all the grass in the fields.