A Call to Repentance

13 (A)Put on sackcloth and lament, (B)O priests;
    (C)wail, O ministers of the altar.
Go in, (D)pass the night in sackcloth,
    (E)O ministers of my God!
(F)Because grain offering and drink offering
    are withheld from the house of your God.

14 (G)Consecrate a fast;
    (H)call a solemn assembly.
Gather (I)the elders
    and (J)all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
    and cry out to the Lord.

15 Alas for the day!
(K)For the day of the Lord is near,
    and as destruction from the Almighty[a] it comes.
16 Is not the food cut off
    before our eyes,
(L)joy and gladness
    from the house of our God?

17 (M)The seed shrivels under the clods;[b]
    the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
    because (N)the grain has dried up.
18 How (O)the beasts groan!
    The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
    even the flocks of sheep suffer.[c]

19 To you, (P)O Lord, I call.
(Q)For fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness,
(R)and flame has burned
    all the trees of the field.
20 Even the beasts of the field (S)pant for you
    because the water brooks are dried up,
(T)and fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness.

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Footnotes

  1. Joel 1:15 Destruction sounds like the Hebrew for Almighty
  2. Joel 1:17 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain
  3. Joel 1:18 Or are made desolate

A Call to Lamentation

13 Put on sackcloth,(A) you priests, and mourn;
    wail, you who minister(B) before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
    you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings(C)
    are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Declare a holy fast;(D)
    call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
    and all who live in the land(E)
to the house of the Lord your God,
    and cry out(F) to the Lord.(G)

15 Alas for that(H) day!
    For the day of the Lord(I) is near;
    it will come like destruction from the Almighty.[a](J)

16 Has not the food been cut off(K)
    before our very eyes—
joy and gladness(L)
    from the house of our God?(M)
17 The seeds are shriveled
    beneath the clods.[b](N)
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;(O)
    even the flocks of sheep are suffering.(P)

19 To you, Lord, I call,(Q)
    for fire(R) has devoured the pastures(S) in the wilderness
    and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the wild animals pant for you;(T)
    the streams of water have dried up(U)
    and fire has devoured the pastures(V) in the wilderness.

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Footnotes

  1. Joel 1:15 Hebrew Shaddai
  2. Joel 1:17 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.