Joel 1
International Children’s Bible
Locusts Destroy the Crops
1 The Lord spoke his word to Joel son of Pethuel:
2 Elders, listen to this message.
Listen to me, all you people who live in the land.
Nothing like this has ever happened during your lifetime.
Nothing like this has ever happened during your fathers’ lifetimes.
3 Tell your children about these things.
And let your children tell their children.
And let your grandchildren tell their children.
4 What the cutting locusts have not eaten,
the swarming locusts have eaten.
And what the swarming locusts have left,
the hopping locusts have eaten.
And what the hopping locusts have left,
the destroying locusts[a] have eaten.
5 Drunks, wake up and cry!
All of you people who drink wine, cry!
Cry because your sweet wine
has been taken away from you.
6 A powerful nation has come into my land.
It has too many soldiers to count.
It has teeth like a lion.
And it has fangs like a female lion.
7 That army has eaten my grapevines.
It has destroyed my fig trees.
It has eaten the bark off my trees
and left the branches white.
8 Cry as a young woman cries
when the man she was going to marry is killed.
9 There will be no more grain or drink offerings
to offer in the Temple of the Lord.
Because of this, the priests,
the servants of the Lord, cry.
10 The fields are ruined.
Even the ground is dried up.
The grain is destroyed.
The new wine is dried up.
And the olive oil runs out.
11 Be sad, farmers.
Cry loudly, you who grow grapes.
Cry for the wheat and the barley.
Cry because the harvest in the field is lost.
12 The vines have become dry.
And the fig trees are dying.
The pomegranate trees, the date palm trees and the apple trees have dried up.
All the trees in the field have died.
And the happiness of the people has died, too.
13 Priests, put on your rough cloth and cry to show your sadness.
Servants of the altar, cry out loud.
Servants of my God,
sleep in your rough cloth to show your sadness.
Cry because there will be no more grain or drink offerings
to offer in the Temple of your God.
14 Call the people together.
Tell them there will be a time to give up food.
Bring together the elders
and everyone who lives in the land.
Bring them to the Temple of the Lord your God.
And cry out to the Lord.
15 This will be a terrible day!
The Lord’s day of judging is near.
At that time punishment will come
like an attack from God All-Powerful.
16 Our food is taken away
while we watch.
Joy and happiness are gone
from the Temple of our God.
17 We planted seeds,
but they lie dry and dead in the dirt.
Our barns are empty and falling down.
The storerooms for grain have been broken down.
This is because the grain has dried up.
18 The animals are hungry and groaning!
The herds of cattle wander around confused.
They have no grass to eat.
Even the flocks of sheep suffer.
19 Lord, I am calling to you for help.
Fire has burned up the open pastures.
Flames have burned all the trees in the field.
20 Wild animals also need your help.
The water in the streams has dried up.
Fire has burned up the open pastures.
Footnotes
- 1:4 cutting . . . locusts These are different names for an insect like a large grasshopper. The locust can quickly destroy trees, plants and crops. In this destruction by locusts, Joel sees a warning. God will cause this type of destruction when he punishes his people.
Joel 1
New International Version
1 The word of the Lord that came(A) to Joel(B) son of Pethuel.
An Invasion of Locusts
2 Hear this,(C) you elders;(D)
listen, all who live in the land.(E)
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?(F)
3 Tell it to your children,(G)
and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.(H)
4 What the locust(I) swarm has left
the great locusts have eaten;
what the great locusts have left
the young locusts have eaten;
what the young locusts have left(J)
other locusts[a] have eaten.(K)
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you drinkers of wine;(L)
wail because of the new wine,
for it has been snatched(M) from your lips.
6 A nation has invaded my land,
a mighty army without number;(N)
it has the teeth(O) of a lion,
the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid waste(P) my vines
and ruined my fig trees.(Q)
It has stripped off their bark
and thrown it away,
leaving their branches white.
8 Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth(R)
grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
9 Grain offerings and drink offerings(S)
are cut off from the house of the Lord.
The priests are in mourning,(T)
those who minister before the Lord.
10 The fields are ruined,
the ground is dried up;(U)
the grain is destroyed,
the new wine(V) is dried up,
the olive oil fails.(W)
11 Despair, you farmers,(X)
wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,(Y)
because the harvest of the field is destroyed.(Z)
12 The vine is dried up
and the fig tree is withered;(AA)
the pomegranate,(AB) the palm and the apple[b] tree—
all the trees of the field—are dried up.(AC)
Surely the people’s joy
is withered away.
A Call to Lamentation
13 Put on sackcloth,(AD) you priests, and mourn;
wail, you who minister(AE) before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings(AF)
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Declare a holy fast;(AG)
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land(AH)
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out(AI) to the Lord.(AJ)
15 Alas for that(AK) day!
For the day of the Lord(AL) is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.[c](AM)
16 Has not the food been cut off(AN)
before our very eyes—
joy and gladness(AO)
from the house of our God?(AP)
17 The seeds are shriveled
beneath the clods.[d](AQ)
The storehouses are in ruins,
the granaries have been broken down,
for the grain has dried up.
18 How the cattle moan!
The herds mill about
because they have no pasture;(AR)
even the flocks of sheep are suffering.(AS)
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