The Invasion of Locusts 1 RV The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. BSB BSB: This is the word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel:
2 RV Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or in the days of your fathers? BSB BSB: Hear this, O elders; and give ear, all who dwell in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your fathers?
3 RV Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. BSB BSB: Tell it to your children; let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.
4 RV That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. BSB BSB: What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.
5 RV Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. BSB BSB: Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth.
6 RV For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the jaw teeth of a great lion. BSB BSB: For a nation has invaded My land, powerful and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and its fangs are the fangs of a lioness.
7 RV 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. BSB BSB: It has laid waste My grapevine and splintered My fig tree. It has stripped off the bark and thrown it away; the branches have turned white.
A Call to Mourning 8 RV Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. BSB BSB: Wail like a virgin dressed in sackcloth, grieving for the husband of her youth.
9 RV The meal offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD’S ministers, mourn. BSB BSB: Grain and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD.
10 RV The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted, the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. BSB BSB: The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.
11 RV Be ashamed, O ye husbandmen, howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; for the harvest of the field is perished. BSB BSB: Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.
12 RV The vine is withered, 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: for joy is withered away from the sons of men. BSB BSB: The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, palm, and apple—all the trees of the orchard—are withered. Surely the joy of mankind has dried up.
A Call to Repentance (Amos 5:4–15; Zephaniah 2:1–3; Luke 13:1–5)
13 RV Gird yourselves with sackcloth , and lament, ye priests; howl, ye ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meal offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. BSB BSB: Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.
14 RV Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the old men and all the inhabitants of the land unto the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD. BSB BSB: Consecrate a fast; proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.
15 RV Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as destruction from the Almighty shall it come, BSB BSB: Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
16 RV Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea , joy and gladness from the house of our God? BSB BSB: Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes—joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 RV The seeds rot under their clods; the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. BSB BSB: The seeds lie shriveled beneath the clods; the storehouses are in ruins; the granaries are broken down, for the grain has withered away.
18 RV How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. BSB BSB: How the cattle groan! The herds wander in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
19 RV O LORD, to thee do I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. BSB BSB: To You, O LORD, I call, for fire has consumed the open pastures and flames have scorched all the trees of the field.
20 RV Yea, the beasts of the field pant unto thee: for the water brooks are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness. BSB BSB: Even the beasts of the field pant for You, for the streams of water have dried up, and fire has consumed the open pastures.