Joe 1 | NASB1995 | STEP | The word of the Lord that came to Joel , the son of Pethuel :

Joel 1

The Devastation of Locusts

1 The ^aword of the Lord that came to ^bJoel, the son of Pethuel: 2 ^cHear this, O ^delders,
And listen, all inhabitants of the land.
^eHas anything like this happened in your days
Or in your fathers’ days?
3 ^fTell your sons about it,
And let your sons tell their sons,
And their sons the next generation.

4 What the ^ggnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten;
And what the ^hswarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;
And what the creeping locust has left, the ⁱstripping locust has eaten.
5 Awake, ^jdrunkards, and weep;
And wail, all you wine drinkers,
On account of the sweet wine
That is ^kcut off from your mouth.
6 For a ^lnation has ^{▼▼ Lit come up against}invaded my land,
Mighty and without number;
ⁿIts teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And it has the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has ^omade my vine a waste
And my fig tree ^{▼▼ Or a stump}splinters.
It has stripped them bare and cast them away;
Their branches have become white.

8 ^qWail like a virgin ^rgirded with sackcloth
For the bridegroom of her youth.
9 The ^sgrain offering and the drink offering are cut off
From the house of the Lord.
The ^tpriests mourn,
The ministers of the Lord.
10 The field is ^uruined,
^vThe land mourns;
For the grain is ruined,
The new wine dries up,
Fresh oil ^{▼▼ Lit wastes away}fails.
11 ^{▼▼ Or The farmers are ashamed, The vinedressers wail
,} ^yBe ashamed, O farmers,
Wail, O vinedressers,
For the wheat and the barley;
Because the ^zharvest of the field is destroyed.
12 The ^aavine dries up
And the fig tree ^{▼▼ Lit wastes away}fails;
The ^acpomegranate, the ^adpalm also, and the ^{▼▼ Or apricot
,} ^afapple tree,
All the trees of the field dry up.
Indeed, ^agrejoicing dries up
From the sons of men.

13 ^ahGird yourselves with sackcloth
And lament, O priests;
^aiWail, O ministers of the altar!
Come, ^ajspend the night in sackcloth
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 ^akConsecrate a fast,
Proclaim a ^alsolemn assembly;
Gather the elders
And all the inhabitants of the land
To the house of the Lord your God,
And ^amcry out to the Lord.
15 ^anAlas for the day!
For the ^aoday of the Lord is near,
And it will come as ^apdestruction from the ^{▼▼ Heb Shaddai}Almighty.
16 Has not ^arfood been cut off before our eyes,
Gladness and ^asjoy from the house of our God?
17 The ^{▼▼ Or dried figs
,} ^auseeds shrivel under their ^{▼▼ Or shovels}clods;
The storehouses are desolate,
The barns are torn down,
For the grain is dried up.
18 How ^awthe beasts groan!
The herds of cattle wander aimlessly
Because there is no pasture for them;
Even the flocks of sheep ^{▼▼ Lit bear punishment}suffer.
19 ^ayTo You, O Lord, I cry;
For ^azfire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness
And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the beasts of the field ^{▼▼ Lit long for
,} ^bbpant for You;
For the ^bcwater brooks are dried up
And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.