Joel 1
Locusts Eat All the Plants in Israel
Nothing like this has happened while you have been alive.
Nothing like this happened while your fathers were alive.
and let them tell it to their children.
And let their children tell it to their own children.
The oldest
Other
Weep, all people who drink
Weep, because you will have no new
Someone has taken it away from you.
Joel wants everyone to think carefully about his message. It is God's message.
The old people should notice, because this message is new and different. They have not heard it before. Old people should be wiser than young people. Old people should have learned from their lives how to be wise.
Joel wants the children to give attention to the message.
Even children who are not yet born should hear the message. That shows us that Joel's message is for everyone. It is not just for the people that Joel is speaking to. Also nowadays, God's people can give attention to Joel's message and they should do so. It is always time to give attention to God.
Joel wants people who have drunk too much
Joel wants the farmers to understand why bad things are happening. (Look at verse 11.)
Joel wants the
They are powerful and they are very many.
They have teeth like strong animals' teeth.
Their teeth are long and dangerous.
The
The insects called
'My country' means God's country. His country is special to him. But he allows
and they have destroyed my
They bit off all the skin from the stems.
Then they threw the bare stems away.
They have left the branches white.
The man who promised to be her husband is dead. That is why she is weeping.
The
are very, very sad.
They are all dry.
The new
The oil has all gone.
You who grow
Be sad about the seeds that have not become food.
Be sad because the fields are dry. And the plants have died.
and the
The apple trees and the other fruit trees have dried up.
All the trees have dried up.
Men have no more joy.
It has all gone.
Joel Tells People to Repent
Even sleep in those clothes.
Cry, you
Cry, you who serve God at his
Cry about the food and drink that came as gifts.
Cry, because they do not come to the house of your God any more.
The
The
Instead, call all the people together to hear the
Call the older leaders.
And call all the people who live in this country.
They must come to the house of the
They must cry out to the
because the Day of the
It will be as if the great God wants to destroy all things.
Other
Many of God's people have stopped loving God. They are not trying to please him. They do not care about God's laws or about his promises. And they think that God does not notice. So Joel now warns the people that God is their ruler. The Day of the
We saw this with our own eyes.
So the house of our God cannot make us happy any more.
The animals have no grass to eat. So there can be no meat for the
The places where people stored seeds have fallen down.
Someone has broken those places up
because the seed does not grow.
The people do not use those places because there is nothing to put in them.
They all move about
because they cannot find any grass.
Even groups of sheep are hungry.
Fire has destroyed the grass in the fields
and it has burned up all the trees.
They want you to help them.
The rivers that had water have dried up.
Fire has destroyed the grass, even in the wild places.
Even the animals seem to know that it is a time to be sad. But God's own people do not know why bad things are happening. They seem not to care.