¹ A word of Jehovah that hath been unto Joel, son of Pethuel:

² Hear this, ye aged ones, And give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land, Hath this been in your days? Or in the days of your fathers?

³ Concerning it to your sons talk ye, And your sons to their sons, And their sons to another generation.

⁴ What is left of the palmer-worm, eaten hath the locust, And what is left of the locust, eaten hath the cankerworm, And what is left of the cankerworm, eaten hath the caterpillar.

⁵ Awake, ye drunkards, and weep, And howl all drinking wine, because of the juice, For it hath been cut off from your mouth.

⁶ For a nation hath come up on my land, Strong, and there is no number, Its teeth [are] the teeth of a lion, And it hath the jaw-teeth of a lioness.

⁷ It hath made my vine become a desolation, And my fig-tree become a chip, It hath made it thoroughly bare, and hath cast down, Made white have been its branches.

⁸ Wail, as a virgin girdeth with sackcloth, For the husband of her youth.

⁹ Cut off hath been present and libation from the house of Jehovah, Mourned have the priests, ministrants of Jehovah.

¹⁰ Spoiled is the field, mourned hath the ground, For Spoiled is the corn, Dried up hath been new wine, languish doth oil.

¹¹ Be ashamed, ye husbandmen, Howl, vine-dressers, for wheat and for barley, For perished hath the harvest of the field.

¹² The vine hath been dried up, And the fig-tree doth languish, Pomegranate, also palm, and apple-tree, All trees of the field have withered, For dried up hath been joy from the sons of men.

¹³ Gird, and lament, ye priests, Howl, ye ministrants of the altar, Come in, lodge in sackcloth, ministrants of my God, For withheld from the house of your God hath been present and libation.

¹⁴ Sanctify a fast, proclaim a restraint, Gather the elders -- all the inhabitants of the land, [Into] the house of Jehovah your God,

¹⁵ And cry unto Jehovah, `Alas for the day! For near [is] a day of Jehovah, And as destruction from the mighty it cometh.

¹⁶ Is not before our eyes food cut off? From the house of our God joy and rejoicing?

¹⁷ Rotted have scattered things under their clods, Desolated have been storehouses, Broken down have been granaries, For withered hath the corn.

¹⁸ How have cattle sighed! Perplexed have been droves of oxen, For there is no pasture for them, Also droves of sheep have been desolated.

¹⁹ Unto Thee, O Jehovah, I do call, For fire hath consumed comely places of a wilderness, And a flame hath set on fire all trees of the field.

²⁰ Also the cattle of the field long for Thee, For dried up have been streams of water, And fire hath consumed comely places of a wilderness!'

¹ Ephraim is enjoying wind, And is pursuing an east wind, All the day lying and spoiling he multiplieth, And a covenant with Asshur they make, And oil to Egypt is carried.

² And a controversy hath Jehovah with Judah, To lay a charge on Jacob according to his ways, According to his doings He returneth to him.

³ In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And by his strength he was a prince with God,

⁴ Yea, he is a prince unto the Messenger, And he overcometh [by] weeping, And he maketh supplication to Him, At Bethel He doth find him, And there He doth speak with us,

⁵ Even Jehovah, God of the Hosts, Jehovah [is] His memorial.

⁶ And thou, through thy God, dost turn, Kindness and judgment keep thou, And wait on thy God continually.

⁷ Canaan! in his hand [are] balances of deceit! To oppress he hath loved.

⁸ And Ephraim saith: `Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself, All my labours -- they find not against me iniquity that [is] sin.'

⁹ And I -- Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt, Again do I turn thee back into tents, As in the days of the appointed time.

¹⁰ And I have spoken unto the prophets, And I have multiplied vision, And by the hand of the prophets I use similes.

¹¹ Surely Gilead [is] iniquity, Only, vanity they have been, In Gilead bullocks they have sacrificed, Also their altars [are] as heaps, on the furrows of a field.

¹² And Jacob doth flee to the country of Aram, And Israel doth serve for a wife, Yea, for a wife he hath kept watch.

¹³ And by a prophet hath Jehovah brought up Israel out of Egypt, And by a prophet it hath been watched.

¹⁴ Ephraim hath provoked most bitterly, And his blood on himself he leaveth, And his reproach turn back to him doth his Lord!