The Word of the Lord came to Joel the son
of Pethuel.
2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye
inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your
days, or even in the days of your fathers?
3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell
their children, and their children another generation.
4 That which the palmer-worm hath left hath
the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left
hath the canker-worm eaten; and the which the
canker-worm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten.
5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl,
all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine;
for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong,
and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a
lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my
fig-tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it
away: the branches thereof are made white.
8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth
for the husband of her youth.
9 The meat-offering and the drink-offering is
cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests,
the LORD'S minsters, mourn.
10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the
corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up,
the oil languisheth.
11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O
ye vine-dressers, for the wheat and for the barley;
because the harvest of the field is perished.
12 The vine is dried up, and the fig-tree languisheth;
the pomegranate-tree, the palm-tree also,
and the apple-tree, even, all the trees of the field,
are withered: because joy is withered away from
the sons of men.
13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests:
howl, ye ministers of the alter: come, lie all night
in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat-
offering and the drink-offering is withholden from
the house of your God.
14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly,
gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land
into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto
the LORD.
15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD
is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty
shall it come.
16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea,
joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners
are laid desolate, the barns are broken down;
for the corn is withered.
18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle
are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea,
the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
19 O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath
devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the
flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
20 The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for
the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath
devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
Chapter II
BLOW ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an
alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants
of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD
cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds
and of thick darkness, as the morning spread
upon the mountains: a great people and a strong;
there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any
more after it, even the years of many generations.
3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind
them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of
Eden before them, and behind them a desolate
wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
4 The appearance of them is as the appearance
of horses; and as horsemen so shall they run.
5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains
shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire
that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people
set in battle-array.
6 Before their face the people shall be much
pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
7 They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb
the wall like men of war; and they shall march every
one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:
8 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall
walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon
the sword, they shall not be wounded.
9 They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall
run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses;
they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens
shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be
dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
11 And the LORD shall utter his voice before his
army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong
that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD
is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, Turn
ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting,
and with weeping, and with mourning:
13 And rend your heart, and not your garments,
and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great
kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent,
and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat-offering
and a drink-offering unto the LORD your God?
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast,
call a solemn assembly:
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,
assemble the elders, gather the children, and those
that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth
of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD,
weep between the porch and the altar, and let them
say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine
heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule
over them: wherefore should they say among the
people, Where is their God?
18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land,
and pity his people.
19 Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his
people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and
oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will
no more make you a reproach among the heathen:
20 But I will remove far off from you the
northern army, and will drive him into a land barren
and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and
his hinder part toward the utmost sea; and his
stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come
up, because he hath done great things.
21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice for
the LORD will do great things.
22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures
of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her
fruit, the fig-tree and the vine do yield their strength.
23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice
in the LORD your God: for he hath given you
the former rain moderately, and he will cause to
come down for you the rain, the former rain, and
the latter rain in the first month.
24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the
fats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25 And I will restore to you the years that the
locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar,
and the palmer-worm, my great army which
I sent among you.
26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the LORD your God, that
hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people
shall never be ashamed.
27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst
of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and
none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I
will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons
and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men
shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
29 And also upon the servants and upon the
handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and
in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood, before the great and the terrible
day of the LORD come.
32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever
shall call on the name of the LORD shall be
delivered: for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall
be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the
remnant whom the LORD shall call.
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