The word
of the LORD
that came to Joel
the son
of Pethuel.
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?
Tell
ye your children of it,
and let
your children
tell their children,
and their children
another generation.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Lament like
a virgin
girded
with sackcloth
for the husband
of her youth.
The meat
offering
and the drink
offering
is cut off
from the house
of the LORD;
the priests,
the LORD's ministers,
mourn.
The field
is wasted,
the land mourneth;
for the corn
is wasted:
the new wine
is dried up,
the oil languisheth.
Be ye ashamed,
O ye husbandmen;
howl,
O ye vinedressers,
for the wheat
and for the barley;
because
the harvest
of the field
is perished.
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.
Gird yourselves,
and lament,
ye priests:
howl,
ye ministers
of the altar:
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.
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,
Alas for the day!
for the day
of the LORD
is at hand,
and
as a destruction
from the Almighty
shall it come.
Is not
the meat
cut off
before our eyes,
yea,
joy and gladness
from the house
of our God?
The seed
is rotten
under their clods,
the garners
are laid desolate,
the barns
are broken down;
for the corn
is withered.
How do
the beasts groan!
the herds
of cattle
are perplexed,
because
they
have
no pasture;
yea,
the flocks
of sheep
are made desolate.
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.
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.
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;
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 to the years
of many generations.
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.
The appearance
of them is as the appearance
of horses;
and as horsemen,
so shall
they run.
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.
Before their face
the people
shall be
much pained:
all faces
shall gather
blackness.
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:
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.
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.
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:
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?
Therefore also now,
saith the LORD,
turn
ye even to me with all
your heart,
and with fasting,
and with weeping,
and
with mourning:
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.
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?
Blow the trumpet
in Zion,
sanctify a fast,
call a solemn assembly:
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.
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?
Then will
the LORD
be jealous
for his land,
and pity
his people.
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:
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.
Fear not,
O land;
be glad
and rejoice:
for the LORD
will do
great things.
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.
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.
And the floors
shall be
full of wheat,
and the vats
shall overflow
with wine and oil.
And I
will restore
to you
the years
that the locust
hath eaten,
the cankerworm,
and the caterpiller,
and the palmerworm,
my great army
which I
sent
among you.
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.
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.
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:
And also upon the servants
and upon the handmaids
in those days
will
I pour
out my spirit.
And
I will shew wonders
in the heavens
and in the earth,
blood,
and fire,
and pillars
of smoke.
The sun
shall be turned into
darkness,
and the moon
into blood,
before the great
and terrible day
of the LORD come.
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.
For,
behold,
in those days,
and in that time,
when
I shall bring again
the captivity
of Judah
and Jerusalem,
I will also gather
all nations,
and will bring
them down
into the valley
of Jehoshaphat,
and will plead
with them
there for my people
and for my heritage Israel,
whom
they have scattered
among the nations,
and parted my land.
And
they have cast lots
for my people;
and have given
a boy
for an harlot,
and sold
a girl
for wine,
that they
might drink.
Yea,
and
what have
ye to do with me,
O Tyre,
and Zidon,
and all
the coasts
of Palestine?
will
ye render me
a recompence?
and
if ye
recompense me,
swiftly
and speedily will
I return
your recompence
upon your own head;
Because
ye have taken
my silver
and my gold,
and have carried
into your temples my goodly
pleasant
things:
The children
also of Judah
and the children
of Jerusalem
have
ye sold
unto the Grecians,
that ye
might remove them far
from their border.
Behold,
I will raise them
out of the place
whither
ye have sold them,
and will return
your recompence
upon your own head:
And I
will sell
your sons
and your daughters
into the hand
of the children
of Judah,
and
they shall sell them
to the Sabeans,
to a people far off:
for the LORD
hath spoken it.
Proclaim
ye this
among the Gentiles;
Prepare war,
wake up
the mighty men,
let all the men
of war draw near;
let them
come up:
Beat your plowshares
into swords
and your pruninghooks
into spears:
let the weak say,
I am strong.
Assemble yourselves,
and come,
all ye heathen,
and gather yourselves
together round about:
thither cause
thy mighty
ones to come down,
O LORD.
Let the heathen
be wakened,
and come up to
the valley
of Jehoshaphat:
for there will
I sit
to judge all
the heathen round about.
Put
ye in the sickle,
for the harvest
is ripe:
come,
get you down;
for the press
is full,
the fats overflow;
for their wickedness
is great.
Multitudes,
multitudes
in the valley
of decision:
for the day
of the LORD
is near
in the valley
of decision.
The sun
and the moon
shall be darkened,
and the stars
shall withdraw
their shining.
The LORD
also shall roar out of Zion,
and utter
his voice
from Jerusalem;
and the heavens
and the earth
shall shake:
but the LORD
will be the hope
of his people,
and the strength
of the children
of Israel.
So shall
ye know
that I
am the LORD
your God
dwelling
in Zion,
my holy mountain:
then shall
Jerusalem be holy,
and there shall
no strangers pass
through her any more.
And it
shall come
to pass
in that day,
that the mountains
shall drop
down new wine,
and the hills
shall flow
with milk,
and all
the rivers
of Judah
shall flow
with waters,
and a fountain
shall come forth
out of the house
of the LORD,
and shall water
the valley
of Shittim.
Egypt
shall be
a desolation,
and Edom
shall be
a desolate wilderness,
for the violence
against the children
of Judah,
because
they have
shed
innocent blood
in their land.
But Judah
shall dwell
for ever,
and Jerusalem
from generation to generation.
For I
will cleanse
their blood that
I have not cleansed:
for the LORD
dwelleth in Zion.