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.
1Awurade asɛm a ɛbaa Petuel babarima Yoel so ni.
Mmoadabi San Tue
2Muntie saa asɛm yi, mo mpanyimfo;
muntie, mo a mote asase no so nyinaa.
Asɛm bi a ɛte sɛɛ asi mo mmere so
anaa mo mpanyimfo mmere so pɛn?
3Monka nkyerɛ mo mma,
na mo mma nso nka nkyerɛ wɔn mma
na wɔn mma nso nka nkyerɛ awo ntoatoaso a edi so no.
4Nea mmoadabikuw no gyawee no,
mmoadabi akɛse no awe;
nea mmoadabi akɛse no gyawee no,
mmoadabi nkumaa no awe;
nea mmoadabi nkumaa no gyawee no,
mmoadabi afoforo awe.
5Mo asabowfo, munnyan, na munsu!
Mo a monom bobesa nyinaa, muntwa adwo;
muntwa adwo, nsa foforo no nti,
efisɛ wɔahuam afi mo ano.
6Ɔman bi atu mʼasase so sa;
dɔm a wɔyɛ den na wontumi nkan wɔn;
wɔn se te sɛ gyata se
na wɔwɔ gyatabere sebɔmmɔfo.
7Wasɛe me bobe
ne me borɔdɔma nnua.
Wawaawae nnua no ho bona,
atow agu
agyaw ne mman ho fitaa.
8Di awerɛhow sɛ ababaa a ofura atweaatam
na ɔresu ne kunu a ɔwaree no ne mmabaabere mu.
9Aduan ne ahwiesa afɔrebɔde,
wɔayi afi Awurade fi.
Asɔfo no retwa adwo,
wɔn a wɔsom wɔ Awurade anim no.
10Mfuw asɛe,
asase no so awo wosee
aduan no asɛe
nsa foforo no ayow
ngo nyinaa asa.
11Mo ani nwu, mo akuafo,
muntwa adwo, mo a mudua bobe;
Munsi apini mma awi ne atoko,
efisɛ otwabere no asɛe.
12Bobe no akisa
na borɔdɔma nnua no awuwu.
Atoaa nnua, mmedua, aprɛ ne
nnua a ɛwɔ mfuw no so nyinaa ahyew.
Nokware, anigye a nnipa wɔ no
atu ayera.
13Mumfura atweaatam na munni awerɛhow, asɔfo;
mo a mosom wɔ afɔremuka anim, muntwa adwo.
Mumfura atweaatam mmesi pɛ,
mo a mosom wɔ Onyankopɔn anim;
efisɛ aduan ne ahwiesa afɔrebɔde no
to atwa wɔ Onyankopɔn fi.
14Mommɔ mmuadadi kronkron ho dawuru;
momfrɛ nhyiamu kronkron.
Momfrɛ mpanyimfo
ne wɔn a wɔte asase no so nyinaa
mmra Awurade mo Nyankopɔn fi
na wommesu mfrɛ Awurade.
15A, da no de!
Awurade da no abɛn;
Ɛbɛba sɛ ɔsɛe a efi Otumfo hɔ.
16So aduan ho nkɔɔ wɛn, a yɛani tua,
anigye ne ahosɛpɛw to atwa
wɔ yɛn Nyankopɔn fi ana?
17Aba no wu wɔ asase wosee mu,
adekoradan abubu,
aburowpata nso so nni mfaso,
efisɛ nnuan no ahyew.
18Sɛnea anantwi su!
na anantwikuw kyinkyin kwa.
Nguankuw mpo rebrɛ
efisɛ wonni didibea.
19Awurade, wo na misu frɛ wo,
efisɛ ogya ahyew sare so adidibea,
na ogyatannaa ahyew mfuw no so nnua nyinaa.
20Wuram mmoa mpo pere hwehwɛ wo.
Nsuwansuwa ayoyow,
na ogya ahyew sare so adidibea.
