11 The word of the Lord that came to Joel , the son of Pethuel : 2 Hear this , O elders , And listen , all inhabitants of the land . Has anything like this happened in your days Or in your fathers' days ? 3 Tell your sons about it, And let your sons tell their sons , And their sons the next generation . 4 What the gnawing locust has left , the swarming locust has eaten ; And what the swarming locust has left , the creeping locust has eaten ; And what the creeping locust has left , the stripping locust has eaten . 5 Awake , drunkards , and weep ; And wail , all you wine drinkers , On account of the sweet wine That is cut off from your mouth . 6 For a nation has [1]invaded my land , Mighty and without number ; Its teeth are the teeth of a lion , And it has the fangs of a lioness . 7 It has made my vine a waste And my fig tree [2]splinters . It has stripped them bare and cast them away ; Their branches have become white .
8 Wail like a virgin girded with sackcloth For the bridegroom of her youth . 9 The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off From the house of the Lord . The priests mourn , The ministers of the Lord . 10 The field is ruined , The land mourns ; For the grain is ruined , The new wine dries up, Fresh oil [3]fails . 11 [4] Be ashamed , O farmers , Wail , O vinedressers , For the wheat and the barley ; Because the harvest of the field is destroyed . 12 The vine dries up And the fig tree [5]fails ; The pomegranate , the palm also , and the [6] apple tree , All the trees of the field dry up. Indeed , rejoicing dries up From the sons of men . 13 Gird yourselves with sackcloth And lament , O priests ; Wail , O ministers of the altar ! Come , spend 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 .
14 Consecrate a fast , Proclaim a solemn assembly ; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land To the house of the Lord your God , And cry out to the Lord . 15 Alas for the day ! For the day of the Lord is near , And it will come as destruction from the [7]Almighty . 16 Has not food been cut off before our eyes , Gladness and joy from the house of our God ? 17 The [8] seeds shrivel under their [9]clods ; The storehouses are desolate , The barns are torn down , For the grain is dried up. 18 How the beasts groan ! The herds of cattle wander aimlessly Because there is no pasture for them; Even the flocks of sheep [10]suffer . 19 To You, O Lord , I cry ; For fire 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 [11] pant for You; For the water brooks are dried up And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness .
