LOCUSTS DESTROY THE CROPS

1 THE word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, the Lord’s ministers, mourn.
10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.
11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.
14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord,
15 Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
19 O Lord, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
20 The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

1The word of the Lord that came to Ioel the sonne of Pethuel.

2Heare this, yee olde men, and giue eare, all yee inhabitants of the lande: Hath this been in your dayes, or euen in the dayes of your fathers?

3Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.

4That which the palmer worme hath left, hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left, hath the canker-worme eaten; and that which the canker-worme hath left, hath the caterpillar eaten.

5Awake ye drunkards, and weepe, and howle all yee drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it is cut off from your mouth.

6For a nation is come vp vpon my lande, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lyon, and he hath the cheeke-teeth of a great lyon.

7He hath laide my vine waste: and barked my figge-tree: hee hath made it cleane bare, and cast it away, the branches thereof are made white.

8 Lament like a virgine girded with sackecloth for the husband of her youth.

9The meate offring and the drinke offering is cut off from the house of the Lord, the Priestes the Lords ministers mourne.

10The field is wasted, the lande mourneth; for the corne is wasted: the new wine is dried vp, the oyle languisheth.

11Be yee ashamed, O yee husbandmen: howle, O yee vine-dressers, for the wheate and for the barley; because the haruest of the field is perished.

12The vine is dried vp, and the figgetree languisheth, the pomegranate tree, the palme tree also and the apple tree, euen all the trees of the field are withered: because ioy is withered away from the sonnes of men.

13Gird your selues, and lament, yee Priests: howle, ye ministers of the Altar: come, lie all night in sackecloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drinke offering is withholden from the house of your God.

14 Sanctifie yee a fast: call a solemne assembly: gather the Elders, and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry vnto the Lord:

15Alas for the day: for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almightie shall it come.

16Is not the meate cut off before your eyes, yea ioy and gladnesse from the house of our God?

17The seede is rotten vnder their clods: the garners are laide desolate: the barnes are broken downe, for the corne is withered.

18How doe the beastes grone? the heards of cattell are perplexed, because they haue no pasture, yea the flockes of sheepe are made desolate.

19O Lord, to thee will I crie: for the fire hath deuoured the pastures of the wildernesse, and the flame hath burnt all the trees of the field.

20The beasts of the field crie also vnto thee: for the riuers of waters are dried vp, and the fire hath deuoured the pastures of the wildernesse.

II == Joel 2:2

 

 

 

 

III == Ps 78:4

 

 

IV == Deut 28:38 ; Joel 2:25

 

 

V == Isa 32:10

 

VI Prov 30:25-27 ; Joel 2:2 , 11 , 25 ; Rev 9:8

 

 

VII == Isa 5:6

 

VIII == Prov 2:17 ; Isa 22:12 ; Jer 3:4

IX == Joel 1:13 ; 2:14

 

 

X == Isa 24:7 ; Jer 12:11 ; 14:2 ; Joel 1:12

XI == Jer 14:3-4

 

XII == Ps 4:7 ; Isa 9:3 ; 24:11 ; Jer 48:33 ; Joel 1:10

 

 

XIII == Jer 4:8 ; Joel 1:8-9

 

 

 

XIV == Lev 23:36 ; 2nd Chr 20:3-4 , 13 ; Joel 2:15-16

 

XV == Isa 13:6 , 9 ; Jer 30:7 ; Joel 2:1

XVI == Deut 12:6-7 ; 16:11 , 14-15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XX == 1st Kings 17:7 ; 18:5 ; Job 38:41 ; Ps 104:21 ; 145:15

 

 

 

 

1 The word of the LORD which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.

2 Hear this, you elders! Pay attention, all you who dwell in the land! Has the like of this happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers?

3 Tell it to your children, and your children to their children, and their children to the next generation.

4 What the cutter left, the locust swarm has eaten; What the locust swarm left, the grasshopper has eaten; And what the grasshopper left, the devourer has eaten.

5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you drinkers of wine, Because the juice of the grape will be withheld from your mouths.

6 For a people has invaded my land, mighty and without number; His teeth are the teeth of a lion, and his molars those of a lioness.

7 He has laid waste my vine, and blighted my fig tree; He has stripped it, sheared off its bark; its branches are made white.

8 Lament like a virgin girt with sackcloth for the spouse of her youth.

9 Abolished are offering and libation from the house of the LORD; In mourning are the priests, the ministers of the LORD.

10 The field is ravaged, the earth mourns, Because the grain is ravaged, the must has failed, the oil languishes.

11 Be appalled, you husbandmen! wail, you vinedressers! Over the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.

12 The vine has dried up, the fig tree is withered; The pomegranate, the date palm also, and the apple, all the trees of the field are dried up; Yes, joy has withered away from among mankind.

13 Gird yourselves and weep, O priests! wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! The house of your God is deprived of offering and libation.

14 Proclaim a fast, call an assembly; Gather the elders, all who dwell in the land, Into the house of the LORD, your God, and cry to the LORD!

15 Alas, the day! for near is the day of the LORD, and it comes as ruin from the Almighty.

16 From before our very eyes has not the food been cut off; And from the house of our God, joy and gladness?

17 The seed lies shriveled under its clods; the stores are destroyed, The barns are broken down, for the grain has failed.

18 How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are bewildered! Because they have no pasturage, even the flocks of sheep have perished.

19 To you, O LORD, I cry! for fire has devoured the pastures of the plain, and flame has enkindled all the trees of the field.

20 Even the beasts of the field cry out to you; For the streams of water are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the plain.

Chapters 1:1--2:27 With a prolonged drouth and then a plague of locusts caused an appalling famine.

v 1-3. No date is given for the writing of Joel, but apparently before captivities. The magnitude of the event he describes is such that it will be told from generation to generation. ( 2 Tim. 2:2 where we are commanded to tell others.)

 

v 4. This may be different stages of one locust or four waves of locust invasion.

 

 

v 5-7. No wines could be made and even bark of fig trees stripped to white wood. This is not a nation but warns of an invading nation if people don’t repent.

 

v 8-13. Like a betrothed virgin weeping for her betrothed, farmers will be sad their crops are gone, and priests lament that there are no crops for offerings.

 

v 14. They were to call for fasting and repentance from the rest of the people.

 

v15-20. Locusts preceded severe judgments in Egypt and are a warning in Deut. 28 of punishment. Here they are followed by drouth, seed not germinating, destructive as fire and streams dried up. Day of the Lord would have near and future fulfillment.