¹ The word of Jehovah that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.

² Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?

³ Tell your children of it, and [let] your children [Tell] their children, and their children another generation:

⁴ that which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten.

⁵ Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine: for it is cut off from your mouth.

⁶ For a nation is come up upon my land, strong and without number: his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a lioness.

⁷ He hath made my vine a desolation, and barked my fig-tree; he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away: its branches are made white.

⁸ Wail like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

⁹ The oblation and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of Jehovah; the priests, Jehovah's ministers, mourn.

¹⁰ The field is laid waste, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted, the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.

¹¹ Be ashamed, ye husbandmen; howl, ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley: because the harvest of the field hath perished.

¹² The vine is dried up, and the fig-tree languisheth; the pomegranate-tree, the palm also and the apple-tree; all the trees of the field are withered, yea, joy is withered away from the children of men.

¹³ Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests; howl, ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the oblation and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God.

¹⁴ Hallow a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, gather the elders, [and] all the inhabitants of the land to the house of Jehovah your God, and cry unto Jehovah.

¹⁵ Alas for the day! for the day of Jehovah is at hand, and as destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

¹⁶ Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

¹⁷ The seeds are rotten under their clods, the granaries are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.

¹⁸ How do the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are bewildered, for they have no pasture; the flocks of sheep also are in suffering.

¹⁹ To thee, Jehovah, do I cry; for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned up all the trees of the field.

²⁰ The beasts of the field also cry unto thee; for the water-courses are dried, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

¹ When Balaam saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless Israel, he didn't go, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.

² Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him.

³ He took up his parable, and said, "Balaam the son of Beor says, the man whose eye was closed says;

⁴ he says, who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, and having his eyes open:

⁵ How goodly are your tents, Jacob, and your tents, Israel!

⁶ As valleys they are spread forth, as gardens by the riverside, as aloes which Yahweh has planted, as cedar trees beside the waters.

⁷ Water shall flow from his buckets. His seed shall be in many waters. His king shall be higher than Agag. His kingdom shall be exalted.

⁸ God brings him out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox. He shall eat up the nations his adversaries, shall break their bones in pieces, and pierce them with his arrows.

⁹ He couched, he lay down as a lion, as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? Everyone who blesses you is blessed. Everyone who curses you is cursed."

¹⁰ Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have altogether blessed them these three times.

¹¹ Therefore now flee you to your place! I thought to promote you to great honor; but, behold, Yahweh has kept you back from honor."

¹² Balaam said to Balak, "Didn't I also tell your messengers who you sent to me, saying,

¹³ 'If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can't go beyond the word of Yahweh, to do either good or bad of my own mind. I will say what Yahweh says'?

¹⁴ Now, behold, I go to my people: come, [and] I will inform you what this people shall do to your people in the latter days."

¹⁵ He took up his parable, and said, "Balaam the son of Beor says, the man whose eye was closed says;

¹⁶ he says, who hears the words of God, knows the knowledge of the Most High, and who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, and having his eyes open:

¹⁷ I see him, but not now. I see him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel, and shall strike through the corners of Moab, and break down all the sons of Sheth.

¹⁸ Edom shall be a possession. Seir, his enemies, also shall be a possession, while Israel does valiantly.

¹⁹ Out of Jacob shall one have dominion, and shall destroy the remnant from the city."

²⁰ He looked at Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, "Amalek was the first of the nations, But his latter end shall come to destruction."

²¹ He looked at the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said, "Your dwelling place is strong. Your nest is set in the rock.

²² Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted, until Asshur carries you away captive."

²³ He took up his parable, and said, "Alas, who shall live when God does this?

²⁴ But ships [shall come] from the coast of Kittim. They shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber. He also shall come to destruction."

²⁵ Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.