1The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Pethuel.
An invasion of locusts
2Hear this, you elders;
listen, all who live in the land.
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?
3Tell it to your children,
and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.
4What the locust 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
other locusts1:4 The precise meaning of the four Hebrew words used here for locusts is uncertain. have eaten.
5Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you drinkers of wine;
wail because of the new wine,
for it has been snatched from your lips.
6A nation has invaded my land,
a mighty army without number;
it has the teeth of a lion,
the fangs of a lioness.
7It has laid waste my vines
and ruined my fig-trees.
It has stripped off their bark
and thrown it away,
leaving their branches white.
8Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth
grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
9Grain offerings and drink offerings
are cut off from the house of the Lord.
The priests are in mourning,
those who minister before the Lord.
10The fields are ruined,
the ground is dried up;
the grain is destroyed,
the new wine is dried up,
the olive oil fails.
11Despair, you farmers,
wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,
because the harvest of the field is destroyed.
12The vine is dried up
and the fig-tree is withered;
the pomegranate, the palm and the apple1:12 Or possibly apricot tree –
all the trees of the field – are dried up.
Surely the people’s joy
is withered away.
A call to lamentation
13Put on sackcloth, you priests, and mourn;
wail, you who minister before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings
are withheld from the house of your God.
14Declare a holy fast;
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
15Alas for that day!
For the day of the Lord is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.1:15 Hebrew Shaddai
16Has not the food been cut off
before our very eyes –
joy and gladness
from the house of our God?
17The seeds are shrivelled
beneath the clods.1:17 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
The storehouses are in ruins,
the granaries have been broken down,
for the grain has dried up.
18How the cattle moan!
The herds mill about
because they have no pasture;
even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
19To you, Lord, I call,
for fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness
and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
20Even the wild animals pant for you;
the streams of water have dried up
and fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness.
1Awurade asɛm a ɛbaa Petuel babarima Yoɛl so nie.
Ɛda A Ntutummɛ No Bɛba
2Montie saa asɛm yi, mo mpanimfoɔ;
montie, mo a mote asase no so nyinaa.
Asɛm bi a ɛte sɛi asi mo mmerɛ so
anaa mo mpanimfoɔ mmerɛ so pɛn?
3Monka nkyerɛ mo mma,
na mo mma nso nka nkyerɛ wɔn mma
na wɔn mma nso nka nkyerɛ awoɔ ntoatoasoɔ a ɛdi soɔ no.
4Deɛ ntutummɛ kuo no gyaeɛ no
ntutummɛ akɛseɛ no awe
deɛ ntutummɛ akɛseɛ no gyaeɛ no
ntutummɛ nkumaa no awe
deɛ ntutummɛ nkumaa no gyaeɛ no
ntutummɛ afoforɔ awe.
5Mo asabofoɔ, monyane, na monsu!
Mo a monom bobesa nyinaa, montwa adwo;
montwa adwo ɛfiri sɛ nsã foforɔ no
wɔayi afiri mo ano.
6Ɔman bi atu mʼasase so sa
ɛdɔm a wɔyɛ den na wɔntumi nkane wɔn;
wɔn se te sɛ gyata se
na wɔwɔ gyatabereɛ sebɔmmɔfoɔ.
7Wɔasɛe me bobe
ne me borɔdɔma nnua.
Wawaawae nnua no ho bona,
ato agu
agya ne mman a ayɛ fitaa hɔ.
8Di awerɛhoɔ sɛ ababaawa a ɔfira ayitoma
na ɔresu ne kunu a ɔwaree no ne mmabaawaberɛ mu.
9Aduane ne ahwiesa afɔrebɔdeɛ,
wɔayi afiri Awurade efie.
Asɔfoɔ no retwa adwoɔ,
wɔn a wɔsom wɔ Awurade anim no.
10Mfuo asɛe,
asase no so awo wesee
aduane no asɛe
nsã foforɔ no awe
ngo nyinaa asa.
11Mo ani nwu, mo akuafoɔ,
mo ntwa adwo, mo a modua bobe;
Monsi apinie mma ayuo ne atokoɔ,
ɛfiri sɛ otwaberɛ no asɛe.
12Bobe no akusa
na borɔdɔma nnua no awuwu.
Ateaa nnua, mmɛdua, aperɛ ne
nnua a ɛwɔ mfuo no so nyinaa ahye.
Nokorɛm, anigyeɛ a nnipa wɔ no
atu ayera.
13Momfira ayitoma na monni awerɛhoɔ, Ao asɔfoɔ;
mo a mosom afɔrebukyia anim, montwa adwo.
Momfira ayitoma mmɛsiri pɛ
mo a mosom Onyankopɔn anim;
ɛfiri sɛ aduane ne ahwiesa afɔrebɔdeɛ no
ɛto atwa wɔ Onyankopɔn efie.
14Mommɔ mmuadadie kronkron ho dawuro;
momfrɛ nhyiamu kronkron.
Monfrɛ mpanimfoɔ
ne wɔn a wɔte asase no so nyinaa
mmra Awurade mo Onyankopɔn efie
na wɔmmesu mfrɛ Awurade.
15Ɛda no aba!
Awurade ɛda no abɛn;
Ɛbɛba sɛ ɔsɛeɛ a ɛfiri Otumfoɔ hɔ.
16Yɛnnhunuu sɛ aduane ho ayɛ na,
sɛ anigyeɛ ne ahosɛpɛ nso to atwa
wɔ yɛn Onyankopɔn efie anaa?
17Aba no wu wɔ asase wesee mu,
adekoradan abubu,
aburopata nso ho nni mfasoɔ,
ɛfiri sɛ nnuane no ahye.
18Sɛdeɛ anantwie su!
Na anantwikuo kyinkyini kwa.
Nnwankuo mpo rebrɛ
ɛfiri sɛ wɔnni adidibea.
19Awurade, wo na mesu frɛ wo,
ɛfiri sɛ ogya ahye ɛserɛ so adidibea
na ogyaframa ahye mfuo no so nnua nyinaa.
20Wiram mmoa mpo pere hwehwɛ wo.
Nsuwansuwa awewe,
na ogya ahye ɛserɛ so adidibea.
