Joel 1

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.	1 The word of the LORD which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.
2 Listen to this, elders, and pay close attention, all inhabitants of the land. Did this ever happen in your days or in the days of your fathers?	2 Hear this, you elders! Pay attention, all you who dwell in the land! Has the like of this happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers?
3 Talk this over with your sons, and your sons with their sons, and their sons with another generation.	3 Tell it to your children, and your children to their children, and their children to the next generation.
4 The locust has eaten what the caterpillar has left, and the beetle has eaten what the locust has left, and the mildew has eaten what the beetle has left.	4 What the cutter left, the locust swarm has eaten; What the locust swarm left, the grasshopper has eaten; And what the grasshopper left, the devourer has eaten.
5 Rouse yourselves, you drunkards, and weep and wail, all you who delight in drinking wine; for it has been cut off from your mouth.	5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you drinkers of wine, Because the juice of the grape will be withheld from your mouths.
6 For a nation has ascended over my land: strong and without number. His teeth are like the teeth of a lion, and his molars are like that of a lion’s young.	6 For a people has invaded my land, mighty and without number; His teeth are the teeth of a lion, and his molars those of a lioness.
7 He has put my vineyard into desolation, and he has pulled off the bark of my fig tree. He has stripped it bare and cast it away; its branches have become white.	7 He has laid waste my vine, and blighted my fig tree; He has stripped it, sheared off its bark; its branches are made white.
8 Lament like a betrothed virgin, wrapped in sackcloth at the loss of the husband of her youth.	8 Lament like a virgin girt with sackcloth for the spouse of her youth.
9 Sacrifice and libation have perished from the house of the Lord; the priests who are ministers of the Lord have mourned.	9 Abolished are offering and libation from the house of the LORD; In mourning are the priests, the ministers of the LORD.
10 The region has been depopulated, the soil has mourned. For the wheat has been devastated, the wine has been disfigured, the oil has languished.	10 The field is ravaged, the earth mourns, Because the grain is ravaged, the must has failed, the oil languishes.
11 The farmers have been confounded, the vineyard workers have wailed over the crop and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.	11 Be appalled, you husbandmen! wail, you vinedressers! Over the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.
12 The vineyard is in ruin, and the fig tree has languished. The pomegranate tree, and the palm tree, and the fruit tree, and all the trees of the field have withered. For joy has been thrown into disorder before the sons of men.	12 The vine has dried up, the fig tree is withered; The pomegranate, the date palm also, and the apple, all the trees of the field are dried up; Yes, joy has withered away from among mankind.
13 Priests, gird yourselves and lament. Ministers of the altars, wail. Enter, ministers of my God, lie in sackcloth. For sacrifice and libation have passed away from the house of your God.	13 Gird yourselves and weep, O priests! wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! The house of your God is deprived of offering and libation.
14 Sanctify a fast, call an assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of your God. And cry out to the Lord:	14 Proclaim a fast, call an assembly; Gather the elders, all who dwell in the land, Into the house of the LORD, your God, and cry to the LORD!
15 “Ah, ah, ah, the day!” For the day of the Lord is near, and it will arrive, like a devastation, before the powerful.	15 Alas, the day! for near is the day of the LORD, and it comes as ruin from the Almighty.
16 Has not your nourishment perished from before your eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?	16 From before our very eyes has not the food been cut off; And from the house of our God, joy and gladness?
17 The mules have rotted in their own manure, the barns have been demolished, the wine cellars have been destroyed, because the grain has been ruined.	17 The seed lies shriveled under its clods; the stores are destroyed, The barns are broken down, for the grain has failed.
18 Why have the animals groaned, the herds of cattle bellowed? because there is no pasture for them. Yes, and even the flocks of sheep have been lost.	18 How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are bewildered! Because they have no pasturage, even the flocks of sheep have perished.
19 To you, O Lord, I will cry out, because fire has devoured the beauty of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the countryside.	19 To you, O LORD, I cry! for fire has devoured the pastures of the plain, and flame has enkindled all the trees of the field.
20 Yes, and even the beasts of the field have gazed up at you, like the dry ground thirsting for rain, because the fountains of waters have dried up, and fire has devoured the beauty of the wilderness.	20 Even the beasts of the field cry out to you; For the streams of water are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the plain.