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Joel 1:4-2:10
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Joel 1:4-2:10
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
4 What the cutter left,
the swarming locust has devoured;
What the swarming locust left,
the hopper has devoured;
What the hopper left,
the consuming locust[a] has devoured.
5 Wake up, you drunkards,[b] and weep;
wail, all you wine drinkers,
Over the new wine,
taken away from your mouths.
6 For a nation[c] invaded my land,
powerful and past counting,
With teeth like a lion’s,
fangs like those of a lioness.
7 It has stripped bare my vines,
splintered my fig tree,
Shearing off its bark and throwing it away,
until its branches turn white.
8 Wail like a young woman[d] dressed in sackcloth
for the husband of her youth.
9 Grain offering and libation are cut off
from the house of the Lord;
In mourning are the priests,
the ministers of the Lord.
10 The field is devastated;
the farmland mourns,[e]
Because the grain is devastated,
the wine has dried up,
the oil has failed.
11 Be appalled, you farmers!
wail, you vinedressers,
Over the wheat and the barley,
because the harvest in the field is ruined.
12 The vine has dried up,
the fig tree has withered;
The pomegranate, even the date palm and the apple—
every tree in the field has dried up.
Joy itself has dried up
among the people.
Cry Out to the Lord
13 [f]Gird yourselves and lament, you priests!
wail, ministers of the altar!
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
ministers of my God!
For the grain offering and the libation
are withheld from the house of your God.(A)
14 Proclaim a holy fast!
Call an assembly!
Gather the elders,
all who dwell in the land,
To the house of the Lord, your God,
and cry out to the Lord!(B)
15 O! The day![g]
For near is the day of the Lord,
like destruction from the Almighty it is coming!(C)
16 Before our very eyes[h]
has not food been cut off?
And from the house of our God,
joy and gladness?
17 The seed lies shriveled beneath clods of dirt;[i]
the storehouses are emptied.
The granaries are broken down,
for the grain is dried up.
18 [j]How the animals groan!
The herds of cattle are bewildered!
Because they have no pasture,
even the flocks of sheep are starving.
19 To you, Lord, I cry!
for fire has devoured the wilderness pastures,
flame has scorched all the trees in the field.
20 Even the animals in the wild
cry out to you;
For the streams of water have run dry,
and fire has devoured the wilderness pastures.(D)
II. The Day of the Lord
Chapter 2
The Day Approaches
1 [k]Blow the horn in Zion,
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming!(E)
Yes, it approaches,
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of thick clouds!
Like dawn[l] spreading over the mountains,
a vast and mighty army!
Nothing like it has ever happened in ages past,
nor will the future hold anything like it,
even to the most distant generations.(F)
3 Before it,[m] fire devours,
behind it flame scorches.
The land before it is like the garden of Eden,
and behind it, a desolate wilderness;
from it nothing escapes.(G)
4 Their appearance is that of horses;
like war horses they run.
5 Like the rumble of chariots
they hurtle across mountaintops;
Like the crackling of fiery flames
devouring stubble;
Like a massive army
in battle formation.(H)
6 Before them peoples tremble,
every face turns pale.(I)
7 Like warriors they run,
like soldiers they scale walls,
Each advancing in line,
without swerving from the course.
8 No one crowds the other;
each advances in its own track;
They plunge through the weapons;
they are not checked.
9 They charge the city,
they run upon the wall,
they climb into the houses;
Through the windows
they enter like thieves.
10 Before them the earth trembles;
the heavens shake;
Sun and moon are darkened,
and the stars withhold their brightness.(J)
Footnotes
- 1:4 Cutter…swarming locust…hopper…consuming locust: these names may refer to various species of locusts, or to some phases in the insect’s life cycle, or to successive waves of locusts ravaging the countryside.
- 1:5 Drunkards: this metaphor expresses both the urgency behind Joel’s preaching and his ironic assessment of his audience. There are no grapes to process into new wine, yet people view their situation as just another agricultural crisis. Joel argues that the problems they now face are lessons the Lord is using to provide the knowledge they lack.
- 1:6 A nation: the locusts are compared to an invading army, whose numbers are overwhelming. The ravaged landscape resembles the wasteland left behind by marauding troops; the order and peace associated with agricultural productivity (1 Kgs 5:5; Mi 4:4) has been destroyed.
- 1:8 Like a young woman: this simile personifies Jerusalem as a youthful widow, left unprotected and without resources by her husband’s sudden death.
- 1:10 The farmland mourns: or “the farmland is dried up.”
- 1:13 Judah’s situation is so grave and the day of the Lord so imminent that priests must lament day and night if they hope to reverse the divine punishment.
- 1:15 As in Am 5:18–20, the day of the Lord in Joel’s first speech brings punishment, not victory, for Judah. In his second speech, this event means victory for those faithful to the Lord and death for the nations who are the Lord’s enemies. Almighty: Hebrew shaddai. There is wordplay between shod (“destruction”) and shaddai.
- 1:16 Before our very eyes: Joel’s audience should have discerned the significance of the winter drought and the locust invasion they witnessed. Joy and gladness: the loss of field crops has reduced Joel’s audience to subsistence living, with no means for liturgical or personal celebration, as in v. 12.
- 1:17 The seed…clods of dirt: the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. Most commentators use the translation given here, since it fits the prophet’s description of an agricultural year plagued by winter drought and a spring locust infestation.
- 1:18–19 In figurative language, Joel describes how the insufficient winter rain, the locust invasions, and summer’s heat on pasture lands and water sources drive domestic and wild animals to cry out for rain.
- 2:1–11 Joel warns the people about the destruction he sees galloping toward Jerusalem. He combines the imagery of the locust invasion (chap. 1) with language from the holy war tradition in order to describe the Lord leading a heavenly army against the enemy, in this case, Jerusalem.
- 2:2 Like dawn: from the east comes dark destruction rather than a new day’s light.
- 2:3 Before it: fire precedes and follows the army’s advance. Even the ravaged landscape of chap. 1 looks like a lush garden compared to the devastation this army leaves behind.
Joel 1:4-2:10
New International Version
Joel 1:4-2:10
New International Version
4 What the locust(A) 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(B)
other locusts[a] have eaten.(C)
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you drinkers of wine;(D)
wail because of the new wine,
for it has been snatched(E) from your lips.
6 A nation has invaded my land,
a mighty army without number;(F)
it has the teeth(G) of a lion,
the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid waste(H) my vines
and ruined my fig trees.(I)
It has stripped off their bark
and thrown it away,
leaving their branches white.
8 Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth(J)
grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
9 Grain offerings and drink offerings(K)
are cut off from the house of the Lord.
The priests are in mourning,(L)
those who minister before the Lord.
10 The fields are ruined,
the ground is dried up;(M)
the grain is destroyed,
the new wine(N) is dried up,
the olive oil fails.(O)
11 Despair, you farmers,(P)
wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,(Q)
because the harvest of the field is destroyed.(R)
12 The vine is dried up
and the fig tree is withered;(S)
the pomegranate,(T) the palm and the apple[b] tree—
all the trees of the field—are dried up.(U)
Surely the people’s joy
is withered away.
A Call to Lamentation
13 Put on sackcloth,(V) you priests, and mourn;
wail, you who minister(W) before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings(X)
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Declare a holy fast;(Y)
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land(Z)
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out(AA) to the Lord.(AB)
15 Alas for that(AC) day!
For the day of the Lord(AD) is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.[c](AE)
16 Has not the food been cut off(AF)
before our very eyes—
joy and gladness(AG)
from the house of our God?(AH)
17 The seeds are shriveled
beneath the clods.[d](AI)
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;(AJ)
even the flocks of sheep are suffering.(AK)
19 To you, Lord, I call,(AL)
for fire(AM) has devoured the pastures(AN) in the wilderness
and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the wild animals pant for you;(AO)
the streams of water have dried up(AP)
and fire has devoured the pastures(AQ) in the wilderness.
An Army of Locusts
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord(AU) is coming.
It is close at hand(AV)—
2 a day of darkness(AW) and gloom,(AX)
a day of clouds(AY) and blackness.(AZ)
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army(BA) comes,
such as never was in ancient times(BB)
nor ever will be in ages to come.
3 Before them fire(BC) devours,
behind them a flame blazes.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,(BD)
behind them, a desert waste(BE)—
nothing escapes them.
4 They have the appearance of horses;(BF)
they gallop along like cavalry.
5 With a noise like that of chariots(BG)
they leap over the mountaintops,
like a crackling fire(BH) consuming stubble,
like a mighty army drawn up for battle.
6 At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;(BI)
every face turns pale.(BJ)
7 They charge like warriors;(BK)
they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line,(BL)
not swerving(BM) from their course.
8 They do not jostle each other;
each marches straight ahead.
They plunge through defenses
without breaking ranks.
9 They rush upon the city;
they run along the wall.
They climb into the houses;(BN)
like thieves they enter through the windows.(BO)
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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