Locusts Destroy the Crops
1 ·The Lord spoke his word [L The word/message of the Lord that was (given)] to Joel son of Pethuel:
2 Elders, listen to this message.
·Listen to [Hear] me, all you who live in the land.
·Nothing like this has [L Has anything like this…?] ever happened ·during your lifetime [L in your days]
or during your ·ancestors’ [fathers’] ·lifetimes [L days].
3 Tell your children about these things,
let your children tell their children,
and let ·your grandchildren [L their children] tell ·their children [the next generation].
4 What the ·cutting [chewing; or swarming] locusts have left,
the ·swarming [or great] locusts have eaten;
what the ·swarming [or great] locusts have left,
the ·hopping [or crawling; or young] locusts have eaten,
and what the ·hopping [or crawling; or young] locusts have left,
the ·destroying [consuming] locusts have eaten [C these Hebrew terms could mean different species, different stages of development, or different destructive actions; they symbolize God’s judgment against Israel through foreign invaders].
5 Drunks, wake up and ·cry [weep]!
All you ·people who drink wine [wine-drinkers], ·cry [wail]!
Cry because your ·wine [sweet/new wine]
has been ·taken away [snatched; L cut off] from your mouths.
6 A ·powerful [mighty] nation has ·come into [invaded; come up against] my land
·with too many soldiers to count [L without number].
It has teeth like a lion,
·jaws [fangs] like a ·female lion [lioness].
7 It has made my grapevine a waste
and made my fig tree ·a stump [or splintered].
It has ·stripped all [L stripped and thrown away] the bark off my trees
and left the branches white.
8 ·Cry [Lament; Wail] as a young woman ·cries [L clothed in sackcloth]
·when the man she was going to marry has died [L for the husband/or betrothed of her youth].
9 ·There will be no more grain or drink offerings
to offer in [L The grain/gift/tribute (Lev. 2:1) and drink offerings are cut off from] the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord.
Because of this, the priests,
the servants of the Lord, are ·sad [in mourning].
10 The fields are ·ruined [destroyed];
the ground ·is dried up [or mourns].
·The [L …because the] grain is destroyed,
the new wine is dried up,
and the olive oil ·runs out [fails].
11 Be ·sad [in despair; or ashamed; embarrassed], farmers.
·Cry loudly [Wail], you who grow grapes.
Cry for the wheat and the barley.
Cry because the harvest of the field is ·lost [ruined; destroyed].
12 The vines have ·become dry [dried up],
and the fig trees ·are dried up [have withered/languish].
The pomegranate trees, the date palm trees, the apple trees—
all the trees in the field ·have died [are dried up].
And the ·happiness [joy; gladness] of the ·people [L sons/children of man/humanity] has died, too.
13 Priests, put on your ·rough cloth [sackcloth] and ·cry to show your sadness [mourn; lament].
·Servants [Ministers] of the altar, ·cry out loud [wail].
Servants of my God,
·keep your rough cloth on all night to show your sadness [spend the night in sackcloth].
Cry because there will be no more grain [L gift; tribute; Lev. 2:1] or drink offerings
to offer in the ·Temple [L house] of your God.
14 ·Call for [Declare; Appoint; Consecrate] a ·day when everyone fasts [fast]!
·Tell everyone to stop work [L Call a sacred assembly]!
·Bring [Assemble] the elders
and everyone who lives in the land
to the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
15 ·What a terrible day it will be [L Ah, for the day]!
The ·Lord’s day of judging [L day of the Lord] is near [2:1, 11, 31; Is. 13:6, 9; Jer. 46:10],
when ·punishment [destruction] will come
like a destroying attack from the Almighty [C “destroying” (shod) and “Almighty” (shaddai) are related words in Hebrew].
16 Our food is ·taken away [L cut off]
·while we watch [L in front of our eyes].
Joy and ·happiness [gladness] are gone
from the ·Temple [L house] of our God.
17 ·Though we planted fig seeds,
they lie dry and dead in the dirt [L The seed shrivels under the clods/or shovels].
The ·barns [storehouses] are ·empty and falling down [desolate].
The ·storerooms for grain [granaries] have been broken down,
because the grain has dried up.
18 The animals are groaning!
The herds of cattle ·wander around confused [mill about; are restless/distraught],
because they have no ·grass to eat [pasture];
even the flocks of sheep suffer.
19 Lord, I am calling to you for help,
because fire has ·burned up [devoured] the ·open [or wilderness] pastures,
and flames have burned all the trees in the field.
20 Wild animals ·also [even] ·need your help [cry out to you; long/pant for you].
The ·streams of water [water brooks; riverbeds] have dried up,
and fire has ·burned up [devoured] the ·open [or wilderness] pastures.