1 The word of the Lord is this, that was made to Joel, the son of Pethuel.

2 Eld men, hear ye this, and all dwellers of the land, perceive ye with ears. If this thing was done in your days, either in the days of your fathers. (Old men, hear ye this, and all the inhabitants of the land, listen! Was such a thing as this ever done in your days, or in the days of your forefathers?)

3 Of this thing tell ye to your sons, and your sons tell to their sons, and the sons of them tell to another generation. (Tell ye this thing to your children, and your children tell their children, and their children tell to another generation.)

4 A locust ate the residue of a wortworm, and a bruchus ate the residue of a locust, and rust ate the residue of a bruchus.

5 Drunken men, wake ye, and weep; and yell ye, all that drink wine in sweetness; for it perished from your mouth. (Drunken people, wake ye up, and weep; and yell ye, all who drink wine for its sweetness; for it hath perished from your mouth.)

6 For why a folk strong and unnumberable ascended on my land. The teeth thereof be as the teeth of a lion, and the cheek teeth thereof be as of a whelp of a lion. (For a people, strong and innumerable, came upon my land. Their teeth (be) like the teeth of a lion; and their molars (be) like that of a lion’s cub.)

7 It setted my vinery into desert, and took away the rind of my fig tree. It made naked and spoiled that vinery, and casted forth; the branches thereof be made white. (They destroyed my vines, and took the rind off my fig trees. They made bare and spoiled that vineyard, and cast it down; its branches were made white.)

8 Wail thou, as a virgin girded with a sackcloth on the husband of her time of marriage. (Wail thou, like a virgin clothed with a sackcloth for her husband, at the time of her marriage.)

9 Sacrifice and moist sacrifice perished from the house of the Lord; and priests, the ministers of the Lord, mourned. (There is no grain or wine to offer in the House of the Lord; and the priests, the ministers of the Lord, mourned.)

10 The country is made bare of people. The earth mourned; for wheat is destroyed. Wine is shamed, and oil was sick, either failed. (The land is made bare of people. The earth mourned, for the corn, or the grain, is destroyed. The wine is dried up, and the oil languished, or failed.)

11 The earth-tillers be shamed, the vine-tillers yelled on wheat and barley; for the ripe corn of the field is perished. (The earth-tillers despaired, the vine-tillers mourned for the wheat and the barley; for the harvest of the field hath perished.)

12 The vinery is shamed; and the fig tree was sick. The pomegranate tree, and the palm tree, and the fir tree, and all the trees of the field dried up; for joy is shamed from the sons of men. (The vines be dried up, and the fig trees languished, or failed. The pomegranate tree, the palm tree, the fir tree, and all the trees of the field have dried up; and joy is gone away from among the people.)

13 Ye priests, gird you(rselves), and wail; ye ministers of the altar, yell. Ministers of my God, enter ye, lie ye in sackcloth; for why sacrifice and moist sacrifice perished from the house of your God (or for there is no grain or wine to offer in the House of your God).

14 Hallow ye fasting, call ye the company, gather ye together eld men, and all dwellers of the earth, into the house of your God; and cry ye to the Lord, (Call ye for a fast, call ye the congregation, gather ye together the old men, that is, the elders, and all the people of the land, into the House of your God; and cry ye to the Lord,)

15 A! A! A! to the day; for the day of the Lord is nigh, and shall come as a tempest from the (Al)mighty. (O! O! O! what a day! for the day of the Lord is near, and it shall come like a tempest from the Almighty.)

16 Whether foods perished not before your eyes; gladness and full out joy perished from the house of your God? (All the food hath perished before our eyes; and happiness and rejoicing have departed from the House of our God.)

17 Beasts waxed rotten in their drit. Barns be destroyed, cellars be destroyed, for wheat is shamed. (The seed grew rotten in the dirt, or the dry earth. The barns be empty, and the cellars be bare, for the corn, or the grain, is parched, or dried up.)

18 Why wailed a beast? why lowed the flocks of oxen and kine? for no pasture is to them; but also the flocks of sheep perished. (Why do the beasts wail? why do the herds of oxen and cattle bellow? because there is no pasture for them; and the flocks of sheep have also perished.)

19 Lord, I shall cry to thee, for fire ate the fair things of desert, and flame burnt all the trees of the country. (Lord, I shall cry to thee, for fire ate up the beautiful things of the desert or for fire ate up the pastures of the wilderness, and flames burned down all the trees of the countryside.)

20 But also beasts of the field, as a cornfloor thirsting rain, beheld [up] to thee; for the wells of waters be dried up, and fire devoured the fair things of desert. (And the beasts of the field, like a threshing floor thirsting for rain, looked up to thee; for the water wells be dried up, and fire devoured the beautiful things of the desert or and fire devoured the pastures of the wilderness.)