Joel 1

Joel describes a plague of locusts that has devastated the land, and calls on the people to repent and turn back to God.

Joel, 1

20
verses
2
min

Bible version

A Plague of Locusts

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.

Commentary

The book of Joel is the second of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. It is a short book, consisting of only three chapters, and is believed to have been written by the prophet Joel in the 8th century BC. The first chapter of Joel begins with a call to repentance. Joel warns the people of Judah that a great locust plague is coming as a punishment for their sins. He calls on them to turn back to God and to seek his mercy. Joel also speaks of a coming day of judgment, when God will judge the nations and bring destruction upon those who have rejected him. The second part of the chapter focuses on the coming of the Day of the Lord. Joel speaks of a time when God will pour out his Spirit on all people, and they will be able to understand his word and turn to him. He also speaks of a time of great blessing and restoration for the people of Judah. The chapter ends with a call to repentance and a promise of restoration. Joel urges the people to turn back to God and to seek his mercy. He promises that if they do, God will restore them and bring them back into his favor. Overall, Joel chapter 1 is a call to repentance and a promise of restoration. It is a reminder that God is a loving and forgiving God, and that he will forgive those who turn to him in repentance. It is also a reminder that God will bring judgment upon those who reject him, and that he will bring restoration to those who turn to him in faith.

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FAQ

Assuming a reader with an average reading speed of 300 WPM reads the Joel, chapter 1 it would take approximately 2 minutes to finish.

There are 20 verses in Joel, chapter 1.