76 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
76 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 1
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1 The Lord gave this message to Joel son of Pethuel.
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2 Hear this, you leaders of the people.
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Listen, all who live in the land.
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In all your history,
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has anything like this happened before?
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3 Tell your children about it in the years to come,
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and let your children tell their children.
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Pass the story down from generation to generation.
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4 After the cutting locusts finished eating the crops,
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the swarming locusts took what was left!
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After them came the hopping locusts,
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and then the stripping locusts, too!
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5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
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Wail, all you wine-drinkers!
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All the grapes are ruined,
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and all your sweet wine is gone.
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6 A vast army of locusts has invaded my land,
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a terrible army too numerous to count.
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Its teeth are like lions’ teeth,
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its fangs like those of a lioness.
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7 It has destroyed my grapevines
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and ruined my fig trees,
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stripping their bark and destroying it,
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leaving the branches white and bare.
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8 Weep like a bride dressed in black,
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mourning the death of her husband.
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9 For there is no grain or wine
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to offer at the Temple of the Lord.
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So the priests are in mourning.
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The ministers of the Lord are weeping.
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10 The fields are ruined,
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the land is stripped bare.
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The grain is destroyed,
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the grapes have shriveled,
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and the olive oil is gone.
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11 Despair, all you farmers!
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Wail, all you vine growers!
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Weep, because the wheat and barley—
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all the crops of the field—are ruined.
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12 The grapevines have dried up,
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and the fig trees have withered.
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The pomegranate trees, palm trees, and apple trees—
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all the fruit trees—have dried up.
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And the people’s joy has dried up with them.
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13 Dress yourselves in burlap and weep, you priests!
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Wail, you who serve before the altar!
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Come, spend the night in burlap,
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you ministers of my God.
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For there is no grain or wine
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to offer at the Temple of your God.
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14 Announce a time of fasting;
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call the people together for a solemn meeting.
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Bring the leaders
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and all the people of the land
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into the Temple of the Lord your God,
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and cry out to him there.
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15 The day of the Lord is near,
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the day when destruction comes from the Almighty.
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How terrible that day will be!
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16 Our food disappears before our very eyes.
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No joyful celebrations are held in the house of our God.
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17 The seeds die in the parched ground,
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and the grain crops fail.
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The barns stand empty,
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and granaries are abandoned.
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18 How the animals moan with hunger!
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The herds of cattle wander about confused,
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because they have no pasture.
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The flocks of sheep and goats bleat in misery.
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19 Lord, help us!
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The fire has consumed the wilderness pastures,
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and flames have burned up all the trees.
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20 Even the wild animals cry out to you
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because the streams have dried up,
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and fire has consumed the wilderness pastures. |