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 shriveled
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.
1Yehova anayankhula ndi Yoweli mwana wa Petueli.
Kubwera kwa Dzombe
2Inu akuluakulu, imvani izi;
mvetserani, nonse amene mumakhala mʼdziko.
Kodi zinthu zokhala ngati izi zinayamba zaonekapo mʼnthawi yanu,
kapena mʼnthawi ya makolo anu?
3Muwafotokozere ana anu,
ndipo ana anuwo afotokozere ana awo,
ndipo ana awo adzafotokozere mʼbado winawo.
4Chimene dzombe losamera mapiko lasiya
dzombe lowuluka ladya;
chimene dzombe lowuluka lasiya
dzombe lalingʼono ladya;
chimene dzombe lalingʼono lasiya
chilimamine wadya.
5Dzukani, inu zidakwa ndipo mulire!
Lirani mofuwula, inu nonse amene mumamwa vinyo;
lirani mofuwula chifukwa cha vinyo watsopano,
pakuti wachotsedwa pakamwa panu.
6Mtundu wa anthu wathira nkhondo dziko langa,
wamphamvu ndi wosawerengeka;
uli ndi mano a mkango,
zibwano za mkango waukazi.
7Wawononga mphesa zanga
ndipo wathyola mitengo yanga ya mkuyu.
Wakungunula makungwa ake
ndi kuwataya,
kusiya nthambi zake zili mbee.
8Lirani ngati namwali wovala chiguduli,
chifukwa cha mwamuna wa utsikana wake.
9Chopereka cha chakudya ndi cha chakumwa
sizikuperekedwa ku nyumba ya Yehova.
Ansembe akulira,
amene amatumikira pamaso pa Yehova.
10Minda yaguga,
nthaka yauma;
tirigu wawonongeka,
vinyo watsopano watha,
mitengo ya mafuta yauma.
11Khalani ndi nkhawa, inu alimi,
lirani mofuwula inu alimi a mphesa;
imvani chisoni chifukwa cha tirigu ndi barele,
pakuti zokolola za mʼmunda zawonongeka.
12Mpesa wauma
ndipo mtengo wamkuyu wafota;
makangadza, kanjedza ndi mitengo ya apulosi,
mitengo yonse ya mʼmunda yauma.
Ndithudi chimwemwe cha anthu
chatheratu.
Mulungu Ayitana Anthu kuti Atembenuke
13Inu ansembe, valani ziguduli ndipo lirani;
lirani mofuwula, inu amene mumatumikira pa guwa lansembe.
Bwerani, fundani ziguduli usiku wonse,
inu amene mumatumikira pamaso pa Mulungu wanga;
pakuti chopereka cha chakudya ndi cha chakumwa
sizikupezekanso mʼnyumba ya Mulungu wanu.
14Lengezani tsiku lopatulika losala zakudya,
itanani msonkhano wopatulika.
Sonkhanitsani akuluakulu
ndi anthu onse okhala mʼdziko
ku nyumba ya Yehova Mulungu wanu
ndipo alirire Yehova.
15Kalanga ine tsikulo!
Pakuti tsiku la Yehova layandikira;
lidzabwera ngati chiwonongeko chochokera kwa Wamphamvuzonse.
16Kodi chakudya chathu sichachotsedwa
ife tikuona?
Kodi mʼnyumba ya Mulungu wathu
simulibe chimwemwe ndi chisangalalo?
17Mbewu zikunyala
poti pansi ndi powuma.
Nyumba zosungiramo zinthu zawonongeka;
nkhokwe zapasuka
popeza tirigu wauma.
18Taonani mmene zikulirira ziweto;
ngʼombe zikungoyenda uku ndi uku
chifukwa zilibe msipu;
ngakhalenso nkhosa zikusauka.
19Kwa Inu Yehova ndilirira,
pakuti moto wapsereza msipu wakuthengo,
malawi amoto apsereza mitengo yonse ya mʼtchire.
20Ngakhale nyama zakuthengo zikulirira Inu;
timitsinje tonse taphwa
ndipo moto wapsereza msipu wa kuthengo.